Nightmare into Dreams
by beatlechicksteph
Summary: After the war ended, Hermione's nightmares forced her to leave everything familiar. Settled in a small New England town, she bumps into a man who claims to be an FBI agent, but seems to be much more. As their lives become intertwined, will they be able to share their secrets, and most importantly will this mystery man be able to help her forget her past and help her heal?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything recognizable, it's all owned by their respective owners.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first story in both the Harry Potter and the Supernatural fandom, so be nice. I tried to do my research so canon things would remain canon, so I hope I do this justice. The story is complete, and I will be posting twice a week, as I get chapters back from my wonderful beta, chiisai-kitty, who is so gracious for helping me out. Without further ado, here's the story!**

/\/\/\/\

Hermione Granger looked around her room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place and sighed. All of her things were shrunk and placed into a small suitcase. The room looked bare. The minimal effort it took to pack up her miniscule amount of possessions, wore her out. She moved to her neatly made bed and sat, reminiscing about the events that brought her to this point.

It was six months after the end of the war, and she was feeling as if her life had hit a wall. She was living with her best friend, Harry Potter, and spent most of her days holed up in her room. She came out only to eat, and to help with the rebuilding efforts at Hogwarts.

After the war, Hermione went immediately to Australia to try and fix her parents memories. When she found them, she learned that the skills she currently had were not enough. She would need to learn advanced memory spells in order to reverse the work she had done. She returned to England, returned to Ron, whom she was just starting to date, and to Harry. The three of them moved into Grimmauld, since Harry had inherited it from Sirius. During the day, the three would return to Hogwarts and help with the rebuilding effort; at night, they would sleep in the same room, unable to sleep separately after months of sharing a small space while on the run. Together, they would find that the nightmares weren't too bad.

Eventually, the rebuilding effort began to wind down, and McGonagall began discussing the idea of the trio returning for an eighth year at Hogwarts. Harry and Ron refused—they already were admitted into the Auror training program, and were set to start with the training as soon as they were done with the restoration of Hogwarts. Their answer wasn't too surprising; everyone expected them to become Aurors. What did come as a surprise was Hermione's decision to turn down the offer.

"Hermione," Ron said as they sat down to supper the night they sent back their replies. "You refused? I thought you of all people would want to finish your education."

Hermione looked down at her food, pushing it around the plate. "I do, but I can't go back there."

"What do you mean? You've been there every day for the last six months, helping rebuild," Harry said.

"And that was pure torture," Hermione replied.

"Mione, are you okay?" Ron asked, putting down his fork.

Hermione looked up, tears in her eyes. "I'm really not."

"Why haven't you said anything before?" Harry asked.

"When have I had the chance? Ever since the final battle, we've been so busy. I've been to Australia. I've been helping rebuild Hogwarts. I haven't had a chance to breathe, let alone think about what I want to do."

"Why don't you go, finish up your schooling, and then see what happens from there," Ron said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you understand," Hermione said. "I can't go back there, and just act like everything is okay. Everything is not okay. Our friends _died_ there. How can I walk down those halls and not _see _where they fell?" She stood up, her hands trembling. She clenched her hands into fists to try and still them. "I think...I think I need to get away for a while."

"Like a holiday?" Ron asked. "We can go on holiday. Wherever you want to go, Mione, just tell me, and we can get away for a little bit before I have to return for Auror training."

Hermione closed her eyes. "I don't mean for a holiday, Ron. I mean I need to get away permanently."

"Where?" Harry asked, swallowing hard against his emotions.

"I was thinking America," Hermione said.

"America?" Ron said. "That's so far away. What about us? What about our relationship?"

Hermione felt a tear slip through her eyelids. She held her trembling hands up to her mouth to stifle a sob.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked, noticing the tremor.

"Ron, I love you, you know that. But I think some time apart would be best. Just until I can stand to walk through the streets of London and not be reminded of, well, everything." Hermione said, ignoring Harry's question.

She opened her eyes, and not being able to look at Ron or Harry's faces, she picked up her dinner plate, and turned to return it to the kitchen for Kreacher to clean up. However, she didn't make it that far. The tremor in her hands had become worse, causing her to lose the grip on the plate. The plate crashed to the ground, breaking into dozens of pieces. Hermione let out a surprised yelp, before the tremors moved through her whole body, causing her to crash to the ground.

"Mione!" she heard the boys cry out, as everything went black.

\/\/\/\/\/\/

After effects of being under the Cruciatus curse for an extended amount of time. No permanent cure. If she was lucky, they would fade as time wore on. Just another reminder of the torture she went through at Malfoy Manor. St. Mungos encouraged her to get rest, and to take a Calming Draught if she ever felt stressed, since stress and over emotion were what triggered the episodes. The torture under Bellatrix was just a gift that just kept on giving. As she redressed out of the hospital gown she looked at her left arm, and the scar left there from Bellatrix's cursed knife. No matter what she or the St. Mungos staff did, that scar was going nowhere. She pulled on her long sleeved shirt, making sure the sleeves reached all the way to her wrists before sitting down to put on her trainers.

She finished redressing and walked into the hall where Ron and Harry were standing, waiting for her. She walked right past them. They spent the night trying to convince her that leaving now would be a mistake. Who would take care of her in America? She didn't have any friends or family there. Here, she would have people to care for her.

What if you have another episode like you did tonight, and no one was there to find you?" Ron had pleaded.

Nothing would change her mind. If anything the episode just solidified her decision. She needed to leave England for a while. Just to recharge her batteries, and focus on herself.

"I'll probably only be gone a year or so," Hermione told Ron and Harry as they sat in her room and watched her pack. "Maybe four at the most. I want go to University, and the magical university in Salem is supposed to have amazing programs in both potions and memory charms. I'll be back after I finish my degree. I just need to get away from all the bad memories, and figure out how to keep my condition under control with so many triggers around."

Hermione stood up from her bed and turned to Harry and Ron. She gave them each a hug and a kiss, and then apparated to Heathrow Airport. She didn't start crying until she was halfway across the Atlantic Ocean.

/\/\/\/\/\

SEVEN YEARS LATER

Hermione shut her front door and locked it before walking down the street of the small town in Massachusetts where she now lived. Two weeks before, she not only finished her magical degree in potions and memory charms at the University of Salem, but she also finished her muggle degree in Chemistry and Education at Salem State University. It had taken a little longer than normal, since she was trying to get dual degrees in both worlds, plus she had to make up for her missing year, and study for and take the muggle GED test, but she had finally finished. Near the end of her program, she interviewed for a position at a nearby school, and before graduation, she found out she had received it. She was now the chemistry teacher at Salem High School. As she was going through University, she found that if she mostly stayed in the muggle world, her episodes would stay away. She found herself relaxing, and not flinching every time someone drew a wand.

She had only been back to England a handful of times since moving to America. Once for the one year celebration to the end of Voldemort, so she could receive her Ministry award and reparations, and every year at Christmas time. Every time she went back, she told everyone she would return, permanently, after she finished her degrees. The hope in Ron's eyes always remained. The two were still dating, exchanging weekly letters and floo calls to keep up their relationship. It really surprised Hermione the level of dedication Ron had to the relationship, especially when it was long distance. They made up for any lost time during her two week long stays during the holidays. They spent most of those two days holed up in Ron's room at Grimmauld, coming out to get nourishment before returning to the bed.

Hermione's stomach flip flopped as she made her way to wizarding Salem, to long distance post some mail. She looked at the letters in her hands and tried to quell her nerves. She was informing the boys that she was going to stay permanently in America. Her letter to Ron included a proposal that he come and join her, and that they change their long distance relationship into a no distance relationship. She was ready to take their relationship to the next level, maybe even marriage, but she wasn't ready to return to England. She had made a home here, and found that during her short trips home, her stress and anxiety level skyrocketed, and her tremors would return. During her visit for the anniversary ball and ceremony, she had another episode—the only other episode—like the one she had the night she told Ron and Harry she was leaving. She came to the conclusion it was better for her health that she stayed in America. She hoped Ron and Harry would come to understand.

She posted her letters and then leisurely began her walk back to the small cottage she owned. The wonderful thing about living in Salem was you could walk anywhere. She moved through the streets, window shopping, trying to think about what she would do with her free time that summer, since she didn't have classes anymore, nor did she have to start working for a couple months.

She was standing in front of a store, looking longingly at a sundress she just knew she would never wear, when she felt someone tap her on her shoulder. She turned to see a man with dark hair dressed impeccably in a suit and tie. He gave her smile once he knew he had her attention.

"Excuse me, miss," he said, while reaching inside of his suit, pulling a badge out. "I'm Agent Winwood with the FBI, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."

Hermione eyed his badge. It looked legitimate, but she really didn't know too much about muggle law enforcement in America to spot a fake badge. "Um, sure. What would you like to know?"

Agent Winwood looked taken aback. "I'm sorry, are you a tourist? Because if you're not a regular resident of this town, I don't think you can help me."

Hermione smiled. "I'm local, actually. I've lived here for seven years now. What can I do to help you?"

The agent smiled. "Well, ma'am, I was just wondering if you've noticed anything weird happening around here lately?"

Hermione raised her eyebrow. "Define weird? Because Mr. Mahoney, the homeless man who frequents the local cafe can do quite a few things that can be considered 'weird'."

Winwood smirked. "I'm thinking more along the lines of people acting out of character, a rash of unexplainable acts, that sort of thing."

Hermione thought for a second. "I've not noticed anything. I'm really sorry. I wish I could be of some help. Should I be concerned for my safety?"

Winwood shook his head. "No ma'am, but if you come across anything that you think would be of any benefit. If you remember something, please don't hesitate to call." The agent handed her a business card with his name and number on it.

"I will make sure and do that," she looked down at the card. "Agent Dean Winwood."

Dean smiled. "You can just call me Dean. And feel free to give me a call even if you don't see anything weird. You know, just in case you want to grab coffee or a drink..."

Hermione smiled and looked into his sparkling green eyes. "Well, Dean, I hate to break it to you, but I have a boyfriend, so I won't be taking you up on that offer. I will, however, give you a call if I spot any weird happenings around town."

"Fair enough, I'm sure I'll see you around, Miss..."

"Granger. Hermione Granger."

"Hermione. Nice name. See you around, Hermione."

Dean smiled at her one last time before heading down the sidewalk, leaving Hermione standing on the sidewalk holding his card.

/\/\/\/\/\/

Three days later found Hermione smiling as she sat down in the small diner she often frequented on Sunday mornings. It seemed everywhere she ended up the last three days, Agent Dean Winwood was there as well. This morning as she walked into the diner, she noticed him sitting in a booth in the back of the restaurant. Making notes on a piece of paper and eating on a large plate of waffles. Hermione almost groaned when she noticed the only available booth was one in front of the one he was currently occupying.

As she situated herself into the booth, and waited for the waitress, she couldn't help to observe Agent Winwood while he was otherwise occupied. He really was a handsome man, and they appeared to be about the same age. He must be really smart to have already made it so far in the FBI at such a young age. As she opened her copy of the local newspaper she had to wonder if the FBI were similar at all to Aurors. Because Ron and Harry were both well respected Aurors and they were on the young side. Granted, they were rookies, and they were offered their spots in the program without the requisite education because of their role in the war, but they were still good at their jobs.

The thoughts of Ron and Harry led her to frown. Three days and still no response from Ron. He was usually pretty good at responding to her letters pretty regularly, and if she addressed something serious, she would hear from him almost immediately via the floo. Her stomach twisted at the thought that whenever he got around to responding to her, she would not like the answer. She felt her hands begin to tremble at the possibility her relationship could be heading toward its end. She quickly shut the paper, closed her eyes and began her breathing exercises. She did not need her first major episode in years to happen in the middle of a muggle restaurant. She began to calm herself, and the tremors began to taper off. She just would have to not think about any possibilities of negative things happening. She shouldn't assume the worst anyways. Ron could just be busy on a mission. They were always sending him and Harry on the missions that no one else wanted, and they usually took a while to wrap up. And when Ron was on a mission, he usually took longer to respond.

Hermione jumped as someone touched her shoulder. She opened her eyes, expecting it to be the waitress ready to take her order, but instead found Mr. Mahoney standing by her table.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mahoney. I don't have any spare change today. Would you like me to buy you breakfast?" Hermione said, smiling sweetly at the middle aged man.

Mr. Mahoney didn't say anything. He just stood there staring at her.

Hermione frowned. "Mr. Mahoney? Is everything okay?"

Mr. Mahoney reached out and grabbed Hermione by the arm, pulling her out of the booth. He didn't say a word as Hermione began to struggle, he just started dragging her toward the entrance of the diner.

Hermione panicked. She could use her magic to get free, but not only did she not have easy access to her wand, she didn't want to get in trouble with the Statute of Secrecy. She then remembered the agent sitting in the restaurant. She would just have to suck it up, and not be her own hero for once.

"Help, someone please!" she shouted.

Mr. Mahoney's grip tightened painfully on her arm. For such a scrawny, underfed guy, he sure had a strong grip. It was almost inhuman. She could feel his fingers leaving permanent indentations on her arm. She was never so happy that she wore long sleeves, or else this would probably be hurting even more. She tried to dig her heels into the floor, but the floor was laminate and her flip flops didn't have very much traction to begin with, so she just slid along the floor toward the exit. Was it her, or were they also moving at an inhuman speed? She heard the ding of the door opening, and the warm air hitting her in the face. Where was that agent?

Just as she was trying to maneuver her free arm so she could reach her wand in the opposite pocket, she felt herself come to a stop. She looked over at Mr. Mahoney. He seemed to just stop without any force. She looked around and saw the Agent standing behind her. Mr. Mahoney whipped them around, so they could face Agent Winwood. She glanced up at Mr. Mahoney, and noticed his eyes flicker to black.

"Dean Winchester."

"How do you know me?" The agent responded.

"Everyone knows you. Just as we all know your father."

"Let go of the girl."

"Now where would be the fun in that?"

"I don't think I was making myself clear enough," the agent said, pulling out a gun from his holster. "Give me the girl."

Hermione started to panic, she did not want to be caught in the crossfire. She began trying in earnest to get to her wand.

Mr. Mahoney laughed. "Let this be a warning to you, Mr. Winchester. Stay out of the way, stop hunting us, and we'll stop trying to hurt the people you care about."

Before Dean could respond, Mr. Mahoney threw his head back and black smoke billowed out of his mouth before flying through the sky. Mr. Mahoney's grip loosened as he fell to the ground, unconscious. Hermione stood there on the sidewalk, staring, her eyes moving between Dean and Mr. Mahoney.

"What the hell?" she said, slack jawed.

"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered, holstering his gun.

"What is going on?" Hermione said. Her head was spinning, her arm ached, and her tremors were starting to come back tenfold.

"Do you have somewhere we can go to talk, that's _not_ in the middle of the sidewalk?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

Hermione nodded, turning in the direction of her cottage. Her tremors were bad, and it was hard to walk, but she needed to get home. She needed to find out what was going on in her town, and who this man was, because one thing was for sure, he was no FBI agent.

They made it about half way up her driveway before it happened. The tremors she was trying so hard to stave off since her abduction attempt wouldn't be held at bay anymore. She felt her legs begin to shake beneath her. She paused, bending down to place her hands on her knees to catch her balance.

"Hermione?" Dean asked, stopping behind her.

"I think I need help to make it in," she said, before collapsing to the ground, everything going black.

/\/\/\/\/\

**What'd you think? Please review and let me know, like I said, I'm new to writing for both fandoms. Next update will be Tuesday or Wednesday!**


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione opened her eyes slowly, noticing that she was lying on the couch in her living room. She moved to sit up, but her head was spinning, so she laid back down.

"You're awake," a voice came from behind her.

Startled, Hermione sprang up from where she was laying and turned around. Sitting at her dining room table was the supposed FBI agent. The sudden movement made her woozy, and she eased back down onto her back on the couch.

"Can I get you anything?" the agent asked.

Hermione thought about her potions sitting in her medicine cabinet. There was no way she could let a muggle go and retrieve those for her without lots of explanations. "I'm fine. I just need a minute. How long was I out?"

Dean looked out the window at the night sky. "Pretty much all day. I didn't know what to do, so I found your keys in your pocket, picked you up and put you in here. You were done seizing by then. I didn't want to leave you alone, in case you had another episode, so I stayed here. I hope you don't mind? That was pretty scary shit out there."

Hermione slowly raised herself into a sitting position. "That's fine, I actually appreciate it. I was going to ask how you got us into my home. Have you eaten?"

"Nah, I'm good right now. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. My...episodes flare up whenever I'm stressed out. I guess nearly being kidnapped could be considered pretty stressful. I haven't had an episode this bad in over seven years." She stood up from the couch on wobbling legs. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go take some medication." She walked to the bathroom, and opened her medicine cabinet. She took out one of her calming draughts, that she brewed herself in order to save money, and downed it. She leaned against the kitchen sink, bowing her head, taking deep breaths. As she relaxed herself, she tried to remember if there was anything that would out her as a witch that was in plain sight in the living room. Nothing she could think of, but she hoped that he didn't go wandering, since she had an entire potions lab set up in her spare bedroom.

She left the bathroom, and after a detour by the spare bedroom to make sure the door was shut and warded, she walked back into the dining room and took a seat across from Dean.

"So, do want to start with what the hell was up with Mr. Mahoney, or do you want to tell me who you really are?"

/\/\/\\/

Dean looked across the table at the young woman. She had her arms crossed over her chest, her chestnut hair a bushy mess from her episode and subsequent nap on the couch, and her chocolate eyes challenging him to lie to her. When he saw her on the sidewalk three days ago and questioned her, he had thought she was pretty attractive. Now, after three days of unintentionally stalking her, and then saving her, kinda, he had to admit she was downright gorgeous. She seemed to be around his age, and since she was living alone, he could definitely be sure she wasn't just a mature looking teeny bopper. It had been really hard concentrating on his case when all he really wanted to do was to ask this girl on a date. Too bad she already shot that idea down when they first met with the news that she had a boyfriend. But you can't blame a guy for wanting to continue trying. Just listen to her accent.

But he digressed. He tried really hard to keep her uninvolved with whatever weird shit was going on in this town. There were three mysterious deaths in the last two months. He really wanted to say it was vamp related, but so far after three days in the town, he couldn't find any evidence of vengeful spirit. And then, to have that demon show up today? He was beyond baffled.

What did the demon want with this lady anyways? There was too much going on and he didn't even know where to start. While Hermione had been asleep on the couch, he had called his dad to call in reinforcements. His dad was in the Midwest somewhere, on a werewolf case. He said he could be there in 2 days, at the earliest, more than likely he would get there within a week. Dean couldn't wait that long. Not when a demon was floating around, issuing personal threats.

He looked across the table at Hermione. She didn't look too worse for wear, after her morning, but he worried about her none the less. She was now on the demon's radar. He didn't know what it was, but he not only felt a connection with this girl, but he felt responsible for her. If only there was a way to let her know that without coming across as a total creep. Her episode honestly scared the shit out him. He had seen a lot of scary shit during his time as a hunter, but watching her collapse to the ground, and convulse? Yeah, he about felt his heart in his throat.

"I'm not really an FBI agent," Dean said, answering Hermione's question.

"Yeah, I figured that out when Mr. Mahoney called you by a different name," Hermione said. "Who are you really?"

Dean took a breath. "My name is Dean Winchester, and I hunt supernatural beings."

Hermione immediately looked panicked, but then schooled her features back into a more neutral expression. "Define supernatural beings."

"Werewolves, demons, vampires, things like that," Dean responded.

"What brought you to Salem?" Hermione asked.

"There have been three mysterious deaths in the past two months, my dad, who I hunt with, sent me over here as a solo mission, so I could prove to him that I was able to hunt on my own. It was supposed to be a clear cut and dry case, a possible vengeful spirit."

"Until Mr. Mahoney did that black smoke thing," Hermione interrupted.

"Yeah, that was really not expected at all."

"What was that?"

"That, sweetheart, was a demon possession."

Hermione's eyes widened. "They can just possess you, just like that?"

Dean nodded. "Unfortunately."

"What did the demon want with me?"

"I honestly don't know. I'm not sure if it wanted you specifically, or if you just happened to be a way to get what he wanted."

"What did he want?"

"Me."

They were quiet for a minute, staring at each other from across the table.

"Why would he think that I would be a way to get to you?" Hermione asked.

"Probably because I've been everywhere you've been for the last three days, and I've made it no secret that I'm interested in you," Dean answered, honestly. Might as well be completely honest.

Hermione worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "Look, I appreciate everything you've done, but..."

"You have a boyfriend. I know, but you can't knock a guy for trying, right?" He flashed Hermione a brilliant smile, causing her to blush.

They moved into an awkward silence. Just sitting at the table staring at each other. Hermione moved to speak, when there was a tapping at her window. They both turned to look, as an owl made to tap at the window again.

"Shit," Hermione muttered under her breath, as she hurried to the window to open it.

Dean watched in awe as a large barn owl flew into the house, dropping a letter on the table before landing on the arm of the couch. Hermione moved to a small dish sitting on an end table, took out what looked like a treat, fed it to the owl, who then flew back out the window. Hermione shut the window, moving back over to the table, picking up the letter the owl dropped there.

"What the fuck?" Dean sputtered, baffled at what he just saw.

"It's like courier pigeon but with owls. It's how my friends and I send letters. It's more fun that way, don't you think?" Hermione answered, not looking up from the letter she held in her hands.

She was reading it, her eyes darting quickly across the page. It seemed pretty important, because the more she read, the more concerned her face began to look. Slowly, she lowered herself back into her chair, before she crumpled the letter up in her hand.

"Look, I really think you need to leave now," she said, her voice quiet, and fighting emotion.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, looking at the piece of paper in her hand.

"Nothing, it's just been a really long day, and I just need to get some rest, and," her voice broke, betraying her, "my boyfriend just broke up with me, so I would really like to be alone right now."

Dean's hand formed into a fist, unintentionally. "Your boyfriend broke up with you in a letter delivered by an owl?!"

Hermione wiped at her eyes. "He lives in London. We've been dating long distance for the last seven years while I attended university. I wrote to him three days ago asking if he would like to talk about the possibility of joining me here. Apparently the answer was no." Her voice caught. "Excuse me for a minute." She stood up from the table and fled, leaving the letter on the table.

Dean heard a door close, but didn't move to get up from the table. His eyes landed on the letter from the boyfriend. He knew that he wasn't one for commitment, and he could be an ass to women sometimes, but breaking up with your girlfriend of seven years via a letter? That was cold. His hand itched to pick the letter and read how the douche ended it. He glanced around. Hermione was still not anywhere around. He quickly picked the letter up and smoothed it out. Weird, it was written on some pretty fancy paper.

_Hermione,_

_When you left seven years ago, you said that you would be gone a year. After the anniversary ball, you said that you would be back after you finished university. Now you write saying that your move is going to be permanent? And that you want me to pick up my life and move to America? Why would you think I would want to move away from my family, my friends and my job? I don't know if you know this, but I'm actually a really good auror. Kingsley says that I'm one of the top rookies, and that Harry and I will be heads of our own teams soon. I can't just leave that. I bet I wouldn't even be able to be an auror in America since I didn't sit my NEWTs. Then what would I do? Why can't you just come back here, so we can start our family like we planned? You're always choosing yourself and your books over the rest of us. You didn't even come back for Harry and Ginny's wedding. We were all really hurt by that. When do I become a priority? When do I become the focus of your life? Ever since the war ended it's always been about running away and fixing your parents. I don't think I can do this anymore. I know when you left you said you couldn't be here because walking down the streets reminded you of everyone we lost during the war, but when will you get over that? I was the one who lost my brother. It was my brother we buried four years ago. I just don't understand. I know there's something that you're not telling me, and I have a feeling it has to do with Bellatrix. I've never told you this, but when we've shared a bed during Christmas, I can hear you crying in your sleep. Are you still thinking about that time in Malfoy Manor? If it's just what happened under Bellatrix that is preventing you from returning, can't you just go see one of those muggle head doctor things Harry has been seeing since he defeated you-know-who? If you can't meet me halfway, Mione, I don't think there's any future for us. If you decide you're not coming back, then I guess this is it for us, no matter how much it hurts me to say it. I love you, Mione, but I have to move on._

_Yours,_

_Ron_

Dean stared at the letter and re-read it. He knew that he didn't exactly have a formal education, but there was a lot in this letter that really didn't make much sense. What the hell was a muggle? What war? He was pretty sure there hadn't been a war in England lately. What had Hermione gone through?

"What do you think you're doing?" Hermione had emerged from wherever she had been and was standing behind him, her hands on her hips, eyes glaring.

"I was just seeing how one would break up with someone with a letter," Dean replied smoothly.

Hermione stomped over to him and ripped the letter out of his hands. "I think it's time for you to leave."

"I think you need to explain some things I read in that letter," Dean countered.

"I don't need to do anything. You need to leave my house, before I call the police and inform them that not only do I have an intruder, but that he's been impersonating an FBI agent."

Dean stood his ground and stared at the angry woman in front of him. He had two choices, stay, and take the chance that she would follow through with her threat, or leave, and take a chance that the demon would return. It didn't take long for him to come to a decision.

"Fine, I'm leaving. For now. I'll be back tomorrow. Like it or not, for some reason you were targeted today, and I'm not going to take a chance with your life."

Not waiting for an answer, Dean picked up his suit jacket from the back of the chair, and walked out of the cottage. He didn't look back, he didn't need to. He could just imagine the look of indignation flashing across Hermione's face. It only made him want her more.

\/\/\/\/

Hermione waited until Dean shut the door behind him before collapsing to the ground. Everything was too much. She came here to get away from all of this. She lived a mostly muggle life and buried herself into school to avoid danger and life threatening situations. Now, on top of everything that happened today, Ron broke up with her. Seven years. She spent seven years building her relationship with him. Planning a future with him. She thought about all the nights they spent snuggled in his bed at Grimmauld, discussing when they would be married, and what life would be like. She tried to picture a future without Ron in it, but couldn't. It just didn't seem to exist in her mind. Everything she saw involved the red head.

For a brief second she contemplated packing up and moving back to England. But she pushed that from her mind. She was not the type of girl to give up her life for a man. Even a man who she loved with all her heart and couldn't imagine living without...yeah, this wasn't doing her any good. She was not going to wallow on the floor of her house like some damsel in distress. She could carry on without a man. It's not like they were together every day. It wasn't like she was going to run into him often. And the letter was amicable enough, with enough time they could even go back to being friends.

She needed something to keep her occupied. Something to keep her busy until she was able to move on from this. She could finish her research about reversing memory charms, but that would only prove to be frustrating. She sat staring at the floor for a few minutes before an idea popped in her head. Dean had mentioned something about vengeful spirits and mysterious deaths. He had been in town for a while, meaning he wasn't making any headway. He didn't look like the type to sit down and research in a library, and if he was just going around asking random people if they had seen anything weird, he was really not going to get any information that he wanted.

She stood up from the ground and made her way over to the computer she kept in the corner of the living room. As she booted it up, she began making a mental list of everything she could look up for Dean, and have ready for when he showed up the next day.

/\/\/\/\/\

Dean made his way up Hermione's driveway the next morning, dragging his feet. He was no closer to solving this case. He spent all night going through his notes from the interviews he had conducted the last few days, but nothing was really sticking out to him. Still, it was nice of John Winchester to not only allow Dean to go solo, but to also loan him the Impala for the mission. There was just one thing that didn't sit well with him. He returned to his motel last night, and tried to call his dad, but he didn't answer. While that wasn't abnormal, there was something that just didn't jive with him.

Dean approached the door and rang the bell. He hoped Hermione was awake. He would feel terrible waking her up. He heard her footsteps on the other side of the door, and braced himself to be chewed out by the vivacious woman. However, when she opened the door, it was not what he expected. She looked as if she hadn't slept at all the night before. Her hair was even bushier, if that was possible, and she had deep circles under her eyes. But despite it all, when she saw him, her face broke out into a brilliant smile.

"You're here!" she exclaimed.

"Yep. Told you I would be back today!" Dean replied, his smile matching hers. It was contagious, he couldn't help it. "What's got you so chipper this morning?"

Hermione's grin widened, "Come in, I have something to show you." She reached out, grabbing onto his hand, dragging him into the house.

Once he was inside, his jaw dropped as he looked around. When he was there last night, the place was impeccably clean and organized. Like obsessive compulsive clean. Today, however, it looked like a tornado came through her small house and took every book off the shelf and spread them everywhere. The table, completely bare a few hours ago, was now completely carpeted with books and papers.

"Um, Hermione, what's going on?"

"I've been researching about the problem you were telling me about," she replied.

"What problem?"

"You know, the mysterious deaths, the possible vengeful spirit that is supposedly plaguing this town."

"What do you know about vengeful spirits?" Dean asked, slightly amused.

"Quite a bit now. The internet is an amazing tool, Mr. Winchester. And whatever you can't find on there, you can find in a book. I suggest if you're going to go on solo missions,that you learn to do a little bit of research. It'll make your life a lot easier. Have you even done any research since being on this mission?"

Dean stared at Hermione like she had grown three heads. She was researching? For his job? How did he get lucky enough to run into her? He hated research, and relied on his dad to do any that needed to be done. He honestly didn't even know where to start. He always considered it the "boring" part of the job. Now, He had someone, who he had barely met, do all the research he needed for this case. At least he assumed she had, he hadn't heard what she had done yet. For all he knew she could have found a bunch of theory sites and have found a bunch of wrong information.

"What did you find?" He asked, when all he really wanted to ask the brilliant girl in front of him if she wanted to go on the road and be his permanent partner.

"Just that your mysterious deaths aren't quite as mysterious as you thought they were," Hermione responded as she walked over to the table. She picked up a packet of papers she had lying in a pile on the table. "These are the medical examiner's notes on everyone who has died in Salem in the past two months. These," she pulled out three pieces of paper that had yellow sticky flags on them. "Are the ones that had a 'mysterious' quality to them. The mystery was they were all young, supposedly healthy individuals who just didn't make it through a day one day. Their cause of death? Brain aneurysm, ruptured appendix, and congenital heart failure, respectfully."

As she listed off the cause of death, she placed the pieces of paper in front of Dean. Dean picked them up and scanned through them.

"This doesn't mean anything. Can't a spirit make it look like these were the cause of death?" Dean asked.

"That's what I thought at first, however, none of this matches with the MO of a spirit. None of the victims knew each other, there was no connection whatsoever. It's just a coincidence that these young people all died within months of each other. Nothing else."

Dean put the papers down and looked up at Hermione. "So what you're saying is that I'm here for no reason?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm sorry you wasted your time. What did your father tell you before you came here? What made him suspect the deaths were suspicious?"

Dean shook his head. "He told me everything I told you. He never really specified why he felt these deaths were suspicious. He just sent me here."

"Did you go look at the places where they died? Did you do an EMF reading?"

"How the hell do you know what an EMF reading is?" Dean smiled at her.

Hermione smiled back. "Internet."

Dean laughed. "Internet. Right. Yeah, no, no EMF detected at the scenes of their death. Son of a bitch. Let me call my dad and let him know that I've wrapped things up here, and see where he wants me to meet him."

He pulled out his phone and dialed his dad's number. Straight to voicemail.

"Huh, that's weird," Dean muttered as he dialed again. Same result.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I guess he's on a really tough job right now, and has his phone off. I'll try him in a little bit." Dean answered.

"Are you going to be heading out now?" Hermione asked.

Dean looked at her. She looked a mess, but she was still beautiful. She was obviously very smart, to have come up with all of this overnight, and she was now single. Plus the demon could still be nearby...

"Nah, I think I'll stick around a little. You know, since that demon could still be around, I wouldn't feel right if you were attacked right after I left. I think I'll just stick around until I can get a hold of my dad. Would that be okay?"

Hermione worried her bottom lip as she thought over what Dean had just said. Dean waited, holding his breath, hoping she would agree.

"Alright," she said, smiling. "I guess you could stick around. But you're going to have to stay at the motel. I don't let strange men stay in my home."

Dean grinned. "Don't worry, sweetheart, whatever you say. Now how about you get cleaned up, and we go find some breakfast?"

/\/\/\/\/

"What have I told you about feet on my coffee table, Mr. Winchester?" Hermione chastised as she came into the living room from her spare bedroom. She had to finish off a few potions and send them out to the people who ordered them. She had been running a small potions by mail business the last few years. It helped supplement her income and gave her something to do during the summer. Of course, it was getting harder to keep up on her orders with Dean constantly around for the last two weeks. Not that she was complaining, of course. It was nice to have the company, and he was a really great guy. However, it was getting harder and harder to keep her identity as a witch a secret with him here twenty-four hours a day.

She had started leaving her spare bedroom's window open for the owl post, that way Dean wouldn't get too suspicious of owls coming at all hours of the day, especially when she had explained the first one off as just her friends way of communicating with her. She also had to come up with a plausible excuse for why she had to lock herself in the spare bedroom, where he wasn't allowed, for hours. Turned out all she had to say was she was conducting science experiments to test out for when school started, and he didn't even ask questions.

At first he would come over in the morning, they would get breakfast at the diner, and then spend the day catching the sights. Hermione would give him the tour of the city, and point out all the historic spots, before they would part for the evening, Dean going back to the motel, Hermione back to her place.

After four days, Hermione invited Dean to stay on her couch. She still wasn't sure what compelled her to do so. It may have been the fact that her nightmares had grown a little worse at night ever since Ron had ended things with her, it may have been the constantly downtrodden look Dean got every time he attempted to call his dad and didn't get an answer. Whatever it was, for the last week Dean had made himself comfortable in her home, and it just seemed natural to have him there. She still cast a silencing charm on her bedroom at night, so she wouldn't disturb him with her screams, but the nightmares had eased slightly, knowing that she wasn't totally alone.

"Sorry, mom," Dean drawled as he moved his feet to the floor. "What do you say, we get out today and hit the beach."

Hermione stopped. The beach. She never went to the beach. That would require wearing a swim suit. She looked down at her arm that was currently covered in a long sleeve shirt. She had tried glamours, but they wouldn't cover up the scar. Nothing would. She quickly went through her entire wardrobe mentally, and came up short. She didn't even own a swim suit.

"I don't own a swim suit." Hermione said.

Dean frowned. "How can you live this close to the ocean, and not own a swim suit?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm not a beach person."

Dean sighed. "Maybe we can go and just put our feet in the water? I'm feeling edgy. I think I just need to get out for a bit."

"Nothing's keeping you here," Hermione responded. "You can leave whenever you want, you know."

Dean smiled. "But what would you do without me, sweetheart?"

Hermione blushed. It was getting harder and harder to resist his flirting. The best part of him being around was she had been able to cut her depression over the break up with Ron short. With him being around constantly, she didn't have time to be sad. She was too busy trying to hide the fact that she was a witch, and make sure he didn't get so bored that he began snooping where he shouldn't be snooping. She was pretty sure he was already suspicious after reading Ron's letter, but he never brought up anything he had read, so she wasn't sure.

"Probably not have to worry about scuff marks on my coffee table," Hermione retorted.

"So are we going to hit the beach, or what?" Dean asked, standing up.

"Depends, do you even own anything that's not jeans and combat boots?" Hermione said pointedly.

"I don't know, do you own anything that's not long sleeved? Aren't you hot? It's like ninety out."

Hermione wrapped her arms around her torso protectively. "I'm fine, I'm cold blooded, so it doesn't really bother me."

Dean raised his eyebrow. "Whatever you say. Now go put on...a lighter weight long sleeve shirt, I'll dig out some shorts, I'm sure I have a pair in here somewhere, and we'll go hit the beach."

Hermione smiled at the thought of seeing him in shorts before turning and walking to her bedroom. She pulled out a pair of shorts and a light weight teal long-sleeved blouse. This would have to do. She walked over to her vanity and pulled her hair into a high pony tail before walking back out to the living room. Instead of finding Dean dressed in a pair of shorts, ready to go, she found him sitting on the couch, staring at his phone.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Why isn't he answering?" Dean asked, not looking up from his phone.

Hermione moved to sit down on the couch next to him. "You still can't get your dad on the phone?"

Dean shook his head. "It's been two weeks. He's never gone dark this long."

"Do you have anyone else you could call and see if they've heard from him?"

Dean was quiet for a minute. "My brother."

"You have a brother?"

Dean smiled slightly. "Yeah, a younger brother, Sam. He's going to school at Stanford. He's crazy smart, just like you."

Hermione blushed. "You should call him."

Dean shook his head. "He won't answer my calls. He kinda ran away from us, didn't want anything to do with hunting. Wanted to live a normal life. Ever since he went to college he's been ignoring our calls. But if I can at least find out when the last time dad attempted to call him was..."

Hermione put her hand on Dean's knee. "You need to go there in person. You have to go and find out. It'll eat you alive if you don't go and find out."

Dean covered her hand with his. "Yeah, I do. I'm so sorry. I wish I could stay longer..."

"I understand, Dean. I really do. I knew that this wasn't going to be a permanent thing. I knew eventually you would have to leave and continue on with your life."

"It's been a great two weeks though, hasn't it?" Dean said, turning toward her.

"The best I've had in a long time," Hermione gave him a watery smile.

Dean wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her toward him. "Now, none of this. I don't need this upsetting you and you having one of your seizures when I can't be here to watch over you. I'll be back."

Hermione pulled back a little so she could look up at him. "You will?"

"Of course. This job takes me all over the country. I'm positive I'll end up back on the east coast again. And whenever I do, I'll go out of my way to come and visit. I promise."

Hermione leaned forward and Dean wrapped his arms tighter around her, trapping her against his chest. She inhaled his scent and sighed. This just felt right.

"I'm really going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too."

"Do we have to go to the beach?" Hermione asked.

She felt Dean shake his head. "Nah, I think I would rather stay in."

"Want to watch a movie on the telly tonight and order in pizza?"

Dean placed a kiss on her forehead. "That sounds like an amazing idea."

"You'll say goodbye before you leave, won't you."

"You can count on it."

/\/\/\/\/\

The next morning found Hermione and Dean standing by the Impala, unable to part.

"So," Dean started, "Do I have to find an owl to contact you? Because that may be a little hard..."

Hermione laughed. "No, I have a phone. Here," she held out her hand. Dean handed her his phone. She plugged some numbers in, and handed the phone back to him. "My number is in there now, you can't lose it."

Dean smiled looking down at his phone. "Thanks. You still have my card?"

Hermione nodded.

"Good, call me, any time. I mean it. If you see anything weird, anything, call me."

"Dean, I'll be fine. I've made it this long without you, you know. And we haven't seen that demon for two weeks. I think I'll be fine."

"I know, just let me worry about you, okay? It makes me feel better."

Hermione smiled a half smile. "Alright, I'll let you worry, but just know that I'm stronger than you think. I've...been through things."

Dean frowned. "I figured. I gathered that idea from your ex's letter. When I come back, I plan on interrogating you about that."

"Alright, I'll prepare myself for that," Hermione gave him a watery smile.

"Hey, none of that. I'll try and call you, and I'll be back. I promise." Dean reached out and pulled Hermione tight against him. This was harder than he thought. For two straight weeks he had a kind of normalcy he never really had with the life of a hunter. Maybe after he found his dad, he would come back here and settle down.

Hermione tightened her arms around his body, pulling herself closer to him. He could feel moisture on the front of his shirt. He squeezed her a little before pushing her back so he can look at her. Her eyes were red rimmed, with tears streaking down her cheeks. She looked up at him, those beautiful chocolate eyes. He leaned down and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. Hermione closed her eyes and inhaled. He disentangled himself from her arms, squeezing her hands before letting go. Without saying a word, he got into the Impala, and shut the door, before he could change his mind. He backed down the driveway, and as he drove down the road, he glanced in his rearview mirror, and watched Hermione stand in her driveway watching him until he couldn't see her anymore.

**Thanks everyone for all the follows and favorites! It's really made me feel pretty awesome! This chapter is the longest in the whole story, so don't expect any more chapters to be this long. Please review and let me know your thoughts. Next chapter will be out this weekend.**


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione didn't hear from Dean for about a week. It was a very long week, but she kept herself busy with her potions orders and her memory research. She really wanted to make the trek back to Australia during the holidays to try and restore her parents memories. It had been eight years since she last saw them, and she was really missing them. As well as getting a little worried that she may have waited too long to restore their memories. However impossible it may seem, she was still determined to try and fix it. Even if it meant her parents resenting her, she would feel a lot better if they at least knew who she was.

It was really quiet around the cottage now that Dean was gone. She really felt it at night. Once Dean left, the nightmares came back full force. She tried to hold off on taking Dreamless Sleep, since it was so addicting, but after four nights with no sleep, on the fifth night she gave in, just to stave off exhaustion.

She even began researching magical solutions to fighting off demons, just in case the demon that had possessed poor Mr. Mahoney decided to resurface and come after her. She spent a lot of her days when she wasn't filling potions orders in magical Salem at the book store there. They had quite a selection of texts on supernatural creatures that weren't considered part of the magical world. A lot of it was based on lore, since they weren't officially recognized by the magical community, so it wasn't much help. Muggle devices also didn't help when it came to how to protect oneself from a demon either. Hermione was growing frustrated with the lack of information, and decided that it would be best if she were to just ask Dean if he were to ever call her, which he would. He promised. She just had to be patient.

She chastised herself for getting so attached to someone who she knew from the start wasn't going to be sticking around long term. She was pretty sure what she was feeling for Dean was rebound feelings, since they came so close to the end of her relationship with Ron. That had to explain it. She was lonely and upset, and Dean was there. That had to be the only logical explanation to why she felt so deeply for this man whom she barely knew. He was there when she needed someone. If he hadn't been there, she probably would have found someone else to latch on to. Or wallowed in bed for a week.

She glanced at her phone again before putting it farther away, out of her reach. She was not going to break down and call him before he called her. He had said he was going to call her, and she would hold him to it. He had mentioned that his brother went to school at Stanford. That was all the way on the opposite end of the country. That Impala couldn't get the world's best gas mileage, and he would have to stop to rest, so in actuality he's probably only been with his brother a day or so at this point. She needed to let them catch up and figure out where their dad was before she went all clingy on him. And besides, since when was she clingy anyways?

She stood up from where she was sitting at the couch. She needed to keep herself busy. She looked at her pile of owl post sitting on her table. All potions orders. Word got around quickly that she made good quality, inexpensive potions. The one thing missing from her pile of correspondance was any letters from her friends in England. She was used to getting something from them at least once or twice a week. Or at least getting a floo call. She hadn't heard from them since Ron had broken up with her. In fact, no one really seemed to notice that she hadn't even responded to that letter.

She frowned and moved over to the floo. She opened the urn she kept on the mantle, and pulled out a handful of floo powder, throwing it into the fire.

"Harry Potter," she stated clearly into the fireplace.

She waited around for almost 5 minutes, and was about to give up and close the connection when Harry's face appeared in the fireplace.

"Step back, I'm coming through," Harry said, without any preamble.

Hermione took a step back from the fireplace and watched as the man she's always considered a brother stepped through the floo into her living room. The two stood there staring at each other, unsure about what to do. Harry looked almost upset at her. Hermione hadn't seen him since she had returned to The Burrow at Christmas. Harry and Ginny had married that Spring, but Hermione didn't have the time to make it back for the wedding, she was in the midst of wrapping up her final semester at both universities, and preparing for her job interview.

Hermione sucked in a deep breath. "Hi, Harry."

Harry didn't say anything. He just continued to stand there. Staring.

"How've you been?" Hermione asked, trying incredibly hard to stay cheerful.

"How've I been? That's all you have to say? We don't hear anything from you for almost a month, and all you have to say is 'how've I been?'"

Hermione's smile dropped from her face. "I'm sorry, Harry, it's just that I've been busy and-"

"Too busy to write back? Or floo? Hermione, Ron is in the middle of beating himself up, because he was worried he pushed you too far with his letter. You never responded, and you closed off your floo. 'Mione we were worried you did something drastic," Harry shouted.

"You thought I offed myself because Ron broke up with me?" Hermione asked, perplexed.

"It crossed our minds as a possibility. Mione, you haven't exactly been stable since the war ended."

Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Thank you for the vote of confidence. And for your information, I've been so busy the last few weeks that I didn't have time to respond to the letter. In fact I had almost completely forgotten about it until just a few minutes before I flooed. I had realized I hadn't heard from any of you since I received that letter. Seems that you weren't worried enough to owl."

Harry had the decency to look down, blushing. "I thought about it, but Ron said-"

"Oh my god, Harry, you're your own person! If you were so worried, you should have done something about it, and not waited around for _Ron_ to give you the go ahead."

"I'm sorry, Mione. I really am. But you haven't really been very good at communicating lately. We've barely spoken since Christmas, you didn't come to my wedding, and then you write and tell us that you're staying here permanently. It's been really hard on all of us, especially Ron. Did you know he was counting down the days until your programs were over? That he was planning on proposing the minute you walked through the floo announcing when you were going to be moving back?"

"No I didn't know that," Hermione said. "For someone who was planning to propose, he sure had no problems breaking up with me in a letter. Just ended a seven year relationship in a letter. Just like that," Hermione snapped her fingers. "Everything was over. How do you think that made me feel, Harry?"

"How do you think it made Ron feel when you asked him to give up his life and move out here? In the seven years you've lived here, not once did you indicate that you were planning on staying here. To get those letters? We were all blindsided by that news."

"I'm sorry that I'm not doing what you all expected me to do. I'm sorry I'm not just following in all of your footsteps. Harry, I was _tortured_. I erased my parents' memories, and I can't get them back. The only thing tying me to England is you and Ron, and that's just not enough. How do you think it feels to walk through London and see all the places I used to go with my parents, knowing that I may never get to be with them again? I needed a fresh start, and I got that here. I'm happy here, Harry. I don't have anything here to remind me of the war and everything that I lost. I was hoping I could bring the one thing that made me happiest in London to the place that made me happy, so I could have everything. Is that too much to ask?" By the time she was finished, Hermione had tears streaming freely down her cheeks.

They stood in silence, staring at each other. Neither one wanting to budge. The silence stretched between them, until it was interrupted by the sound of Hermione's phone ringing. She didn't move to answer it.

"You have a mobile phone," Harry stated.

Hermione nodded.

"Are you going to answer it?"

"No, whoever it is will just leave a voicemail."

"So, are you living like a muggle now?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged. "I split my time evenly between worlds. I will be working at a muggle school in the fall, and I also have a mail order potions business out of my spare bedroom."

Hermione's phone rang again. Harry looked down at it sitting on the coffee table. He reached down and picked it up, looking down at the caller I.D. "Who's Dean?"

"What?" Hermione asked confused.

"Who's Dean?" Harry asked again, holding up the ringing phone.

"He's a friend."

"Muggle or Wizard?"

"Does it matter?"

The phone began to ring again. Harry answered it.

"Oh my god, sweetheart, finally. Why haven't you been answering? Are you okay?" the voice on the other end of the phone said.

"She's fine," Harry's answered.

"Who the fuck are you?" Dean demanded. "Where's Hermione. I demand that you put her on right now."

"I'm one of her oldest friends, who are you?"

"Her newest friend, now put her on."

Harry thrust the phone at Hermione and plopped down on the couch, making himself at home. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Hullo, Dean."

"Thank god. You're okay, right?"

"I'm fine. That's my friend, Harry. He's come for a visit."

"How long is he in town?"

"Not very long, maybe a day or two."

"Awfully short for traveling such a long distance."

"Well, he has other people to visit while he's in the States," Hermione explained. Harry raised his eyebrow at her, and she just shrugged. "How are you? Have you found anything out about your dad?"

Dean got quiet on the other end of the phone. "We found his hotel room, and information on the case he was working on."

"Wait, just his hotel room?" Hermione said, quietly.

"Yeah, um, we found a bunch of his research and his hunter's journal. He left me coordinates. That's actually where we're headed right now."

"We?" Hermione asked.

"Sam is tagging along."

"I thought he was going to school in Stanford, that he wanted a normal life?" Hermione asked.

"He did. But something happened, and now he's back in the life. He's becoming a hunter again." Dean answered.

"What happened? Dean, is everything okay?"

Dean got really quiet on the other side of the line. Hermione had to listen closely to hear his breathing so that she knew he hadn't hung up.

"Hermione, there is so much I haven't told you, that I would like to tell you, and in order to understand fully what happened, you need to know the whole story. It's a story that I need to tell you in person, though. And I can't get out that way yet. I need to go to the coordinates and I need to find my dad."

Hermione was quiet. "I understand. I understand completely. There are things I would like to tell you too, and they're best explained in person as well."

"Like the war and whatever was done to you in it?" Dean replied.

Hermione sucked in a breath. "I forgot you had read about that," she said quietly.

"I haven't. How about we set an undisclosed date. When I'm able to get to you, we sit down and spill some secrets," Dean said.

Hermione was quiet for a few minutes. Could she reveal everything? Wouldn't it be going against the statute? Then again, witches and wizards who ended up marrying muggles eventually told their spouses about their status. She wasn't sure if she was going to exactly marry Dean, per say, however, she was very interested in him romantically, and she firmly believed that you couldn't have a relationship based on lies.

"Deal," Hermione said.

"Listen, Sam is on his way back to the car, so I need to go."

"Already?" Hermione said, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"I'm sorry, but it's really been amazing to hear your voice." Dean grew quiet. "I've missed you," he said softly.

"I've missed you, too," Hermione replied just as softly.

"I'm going to try and get back there within the month, okay? Don't go meeting any other handsome men and replacing me," Dean tried to joke.

"Don't worry, you're irreplaceable," Hermione said, smiling. "Dean," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Please be careful."

"Always."

They said their goodbyes, and Hermione hung up the phone. She stared at it for a few seconds before looking up, noticing Harry staring at her.

"Hermione, did you cheat on Ron?" Harry said quietly from where he sat on the couch.

"What?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"Between your side of that conversation, the fact that this Dean bloke sounded insanely jealous when I answered the phone, and the fact that he called multiple times until he was able to get a hold of you, I've come to the conclusion that Dean isn't just a friend. So let me ask again, did you cheat on Ron?"

"In case you forgot, Harry, but Ron broke up with me. Not the other way around."

"But you insisted that you needed to stay in the States. Is he the reason you didn't want to come home?"

"Where is this coming from? If I were staying for another man, wouldn't you think I probably wouldn't have asked Ron to move here with me?"

"You know what Hermione? I honestly don't know what you would or would not have done, seeing as you've been acting completely out of character for years now. You didn't even come to my wedding!" Harry shouted.

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, and quickly snapped it shut again. She didn't want to say anything that she was going to regret later. And if she said what she was about to say, she was going to lose Harry, just like she had apparently lost Ron.

"Harry, I've explained this several times over the years..."

"Save it, Hermione. Just answer my question. Were you cheating on Ron with Dean?"

"No, I wasn't. I didn't meet Dean until a few days before I got the owl from Ron in which he broke up with me."

"How did you meet him?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because I'm still your brother, and I still reserve the right to interrogate you about any men you choose to date."

Hermione cracked a smile at that. "You didn't interrogate me or Ron at any point in our relationship," she pointed out.

Harry shrugged. "I didn't feel a need. I knew he wasn't going to hurt you." Harry was quiet as he thought that over. "Which apparently I was wrong about, seeing as he broke your heart."

Hermione looked at Harry carefully. She tried to decide what she should tell him. She looked at the man she considered a brother, the savior of the wizarding world, one the most powerful men she knew...yeah, altered truth it is.

"He's an FBI agent, and he was in town investigating a crime. We ran into each other on the street and he asked me a few questions. A few days later, he was eating in the same diner as I was when a homeless man tried to abduct me. He stopped it, and he was walking me home when I had one of my episodes. He sat with me until I was better, and then we were pretty much inseparable until he had to leave on a new case two weeks later. That's it."

Harry was quiet. Hermione fidgeted, waiting for him to react. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he spoke up.

"How bad was your episode?" Harry said quietly.

"As bad as the first time, when you had to take me to St. Mungo's," Hermione said just as quietly.

Harry exhaled loudly, running his hand through his hair. "How often do you have episodes like that?"

"That was the first one since the one at the anniversary ball," Hermione said. "I have tremors whenever I'm stressed out, but I usually can tamp it down and get it under control. I guess the stress of almost getting kidnapped was just too much for me to get under control."

Harry crossed the small amount of space between them and enveloped her in a hug. He squeezed her to him. She buried her face in his chest.

"The nightmares?" He asked against her hair.

"I have to take Dreamless Sleep at least once a month in order to get some sleep," she mumbled against him. "They got worse after Ron broke up with me. I was always alone here, but I guess that letter, him ending our relationship, just made me feel as if I have nobody, and that just triggered the nightmares even more."

Harry tightened his arms around her even more. "You're not alone, 'Mione. You're _not_ alone. You'll always have me. I'm sorry it's seemed that way. You know I love you, I'll always be here for you. I'm so sorry we haven't been supportive of you since you left. Or that we didn't understand what you're going through. We all went through the war, but none of us were tortured, except for you. I want you to know that from now on, I'm going to be here for you. I will come through the floo and visit at least once a week, and I will owl you until you're sick of me. Do you understand? You're not alone, 'Mione. You're not alone."

Hermione felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she felt lighter than she had since the end of the war. She knew his words wouldn't be a cure, and she was certain the nightmares and the episodes would continue, but knowing that she wasn't alone, felt marvelous. Knowing that she would finally have the support she needed allowed her to let go of all the emotions she had been bottling up. So there, in Harry's arms, for the first time since the war, she showed weakness in front of another person, and allowed Harry to hold her while she cried.

/\/\/\/\

Dean had finished up his phone conversation with Hermione, and quickly stashed his cell phone back in his pocket as Sam opened the door to the Impala and climbed in.

"Who were you on the phone with?" Sam asked as he pulled the seat belt around his body.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Dean said as he started the engine and began to pull out of the parking spot they were in.

"Don't lie to me, Dean. I saw you talking on the phone while I was inside. Is it about Dad?"

Dean was quiet for a minute. He debated spinning an elaborate lie, but if he was going to be contacting Hermione often, he didn't know if he would be able to keep tabs on the lie as it grew. But Sam _did_ just lose his girlfriend, and telling him that he was currently pursuing a girl of his own would be like salt in the wound. Half-truth would probably be better.

"Remember when I told you I was in Salem on a case?"

"Yeah."

"Remember how I told you a demon tried to abduct a girl?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm just checking in on her to make sure the demon didn't make a reappearance."

"Oh okay. So where are we headed?"

"Colorado, apparently, that's where the coordinates are taking us."

"Do you think Dad will be there?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I hope so, but you never know. We don't really know what those coordinates will lead us to."

Sam sighed and leaned back in the passenger seat, sipping on the soda he just picked up from the gas station. "What's the girl's name?"

"What girl?"

"The one you're keeping tabs on."

Dean smiled slightly. "Hermione."

**There it is, Chapter 3. I'm not sure when I'll get chapter 4 up, the next three chapters are with chiisai-kitty and as soon as she gets them back to me, I'll post the next chapter. Until then, thank you for the reviews and follows and favorites. Please review and let me know what you think. Don't worry, Hermione and Dean won't be separated for long. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows! Thank you to my wonderful beta, chiisai-kitty for getting this to me even though her internet is spotty. I wanted to let you know that I'm fastforwarding quickly through the timelines. This story is sixteen chapters and an epilogue and will cover the first five season of Supernatural. Without further ado, here's the newest chapter!**

"Never again, Sammy," Dean said as they walked back to the Impala.

"Really Dean? Never is an awfully long time," Sam said with a smile.

"I don't care. I'm never getting on an airplane again."

Sam laughed. "You really can't let that experience color your opinion about flying. Not every plane has a demon possessing the pilot and flight attendants to make the plane crash."

Dean shook his head as they climbed into the car. "I don't care. I'm going to stay safely on the ground, driving my baby around. Much safer that way."

"You know, more people die in traffic accidents each year than they do plane crashes," Sam pointed out.

"Don't care. My ass is going to stay in this driver's seat safe on these roads from now on." Dean turned the car onto the road, and began heading east.

"Where are we going now? Do you have a lead on Dad that I don't know about? Another case?" Sam asked.

"Not that I know of. This is the closest we've been to the east coast in a couple months, and I'm going to go visit Hermione," Dean said.

"Hermione...the girl you're supposed to be keeping tabs on? You haven't mentioned her in months. Why do you want to go visit her all of a sudden?"

Dean was quiet. After the first call, Dean had been making sure to call Hermione when Sam was busy or sleeping. He didn't know why but he wanted to keep his relationship with her a secret. And he guessed what he had with Hermione could be called a relationship. Not in any traditional sense, but in his weird world. He called her at least once a week, and they would just talk. Nothing too serious, they were saving all the serious discussions for the next time they could see each other in person, but just mundane things.

Hermione had started school, and she was having challenges teaching high school chemistry. Every time he talked to her, she would have a new story of something crazy a kid had done, or how some kid tried to pull one over on her. He would laugh as he tried to picture Hermione chastising a teenager a foot taller than her modest frame. He would then fill her in on their latest job and how close they were to actually finding their dad.

He loved talking to her, and hearing her voice and her stories about her everyday life really grounded him, and lifted his spirits a bit, even when they knew their dad was out there somewhere, hunting the same demon that had killed their mom. When they took the job in Pennsylvania, his heart lifted. It was the closest he'd been to Hermione since he left, and knew this would be his opportunity to go see her in person. He hadn't called to give her any warning, though. He didn't want to get her hopes up in case he couldn't make it, or the plane crashed and he and Sam burned to a crisp. Plus, surprising her would be romantic...right?

He realized he had been quiet a bit too long, and turned to Sam. "Yeah, about that..."

"Dean, what aren't you telling me?" Sam said.

"I may have played down what Hermione is to me, just a little," Dean said, indicating with his fingers a little bit.

"You lied to me?" Sam exclaimed.

"No, I wouldn't say 'lie' I would say, altered the truth."

"Then tell me the truth now," Sam said, turning toward Dean in his seat.

"Well, I did meet her on that job, just like I said. I just left out that while I stayed there I ended up moving into her house. And that I've kinda been calling her every week since we've been working together."

"What the hell, Dean! You have a girlfriend, and you didn't tell me?"

"Technically she's not my girlfriend. We haven't discussed that part of our relationship, we're just friends. For now. I'm hoping to change that when we get to Salem," Dean explained.

"Wait, aren't you the one who's been saying that we can't have any attachments in this life? That this job can only hurt people we care about? How does having a girlfriend fit into that mantra?"

"This is different. I barely see her, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure she's protected when I'm not there. There's just something about her that makes me want to be with her even though everything in our lives is telling me that it's impossible."

Sam sighed. "What about what happened to Jessica? Have you thought about how there's a possibility that that could happen to Hermione?"

"Every damn day since we've been on the road," Dean replied. "But I can't help it. She makes me happy. I haven't had much of that growing up the way we did, you know?"

"Does she know you're a hunter?" Sam asked. "Does she know exactly what this life entails?"

Dean shook his head. "She knows I'm a hunter. In fact, she helped conduct research for that job in Salem."

Sam laughed. "No wonder you like her, she did the part of the job you hate. Maybe you should get her to come on the road with us, it'll give me a little help on the research side."

"As much as I would love to have her on the road with us, I don't think I would be able to do the job right. I would spend way too much time worrying about her and her well-being. I don't know what I would do if something happened to her on the road."

Sam was quiet for a second. "It sounds like you're pretty serious about her for not really being with her."

Dean ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know, man. There's something about her that just draws me to her. I feel like we've known each other forever, even though it's only been a few months, and most of that has been over the phone."

"Do you think once we find Dad that you're going to give up the life and settle down with her?" Sam asked.

Dean was quiet as he watched the headlights of the Impala shine on the reflectors on the side of the road. Would he give up the life and settle down with Hermione? He didn't even have to think about it really. And for some reason, that scared him. "Yeah, I think I would."

/\/\/\/\/\

Hermione was jolted from her sleep by the sound of someone knocking on her door. Frowning, she looked at the clock on her side table. Who in the world would be knocking on her door at two in the morning? Granted, it was Friday night, but she wasn't expecting anyone. And unless they were coming through her floo, it wasn't one of her friends from England. Harry had a habit of forgetting the time difference on his, and sometimes Ginny's, weekly Saturday visits. She had to make them promise to wait until it was at least noon over in England before making it through the floo.

She waited to see if she had just been hearing things, but the knocking happened again, only louder. She eased herself out of bed, slipping her feet into the slippers she had placed by the side of the bed, and throwing a blanket around her shoulders. It was nearly October, and the nights had started growing colder, although she still slept in a camisole and shorts. The nightmares often caused her to sweat during the night.

She made her way to her front door, and looked out the peep hole. She forgot about how late it was the minute she saw who was on the other side of the door. She quickly undid the locks and threw the door open before leaping into the arms of Dean Winchester who was standing on her front stoop. Dean's arms automatically wrapped around her small body, and he pulled her close, inhaling her scent.

"I'm not dreaming am I?" Hermione mumbled into his chest. "Because if I'm dreaming I don't think I ever want to wake up."

"You're not dreaming, sweetheart," Dean said quietly into her hair.

Hermione smiled and hugged him to her tighter. Dean, not wanting to let go, maneuvered them so that they were standing inside her living room, kicking the door shut behind him.

"I've missed you so much," Hermione said.

"I've missed you, too."

Hermione pulled back a little. She looked up and melted at the look of tenderness on his face.

"Are you here on a job?" she asked.

"Nope. We just finished a job in Pennsylvania, and we don't have anything lined up just yet, so I just drove here to see you."

Hermione's face ached from grinning so much. She didn't know why but that seemed like the most romantic thing in the world. Dean drove hours on a whim just to see her. She couldn't even get Ron to floo over to visit in the whole seven years they were together.

"How long do you get to stay?" she asked.

"A couple days. Sam is currently keeping an ear to the ground to see if anything comes up. I'm here until something does."

"Where's Sam?"

"He's staying at a motel here in town. I left him and the car there, and walked over here to see you."

Hermione pulled away from him, reluctantly. "Would you like to sit down?"

They walked over to the couch, and Dean waited until Hermione took a seat. She sat down on one end of the couch, and he sat down right next to her, draping his arm over the back of the sofa so it would be around her, but not touching.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, just basking in the fact that they were close to one another for the first time in months. Hermione moved so that her head was resting on Dean's shoulder.

"Do you want to talk tonight, or wait until tomorrow?" he asked, rubbing a hand up and down her bare shoulder where the blanket had slipped down.

"Tomorrow. Right now, can we just...be together?" Hermione said.

"Of course," Dean replied. He dropped a kiss on her head before kicking his shoes off and maneuvering himself and Hermione on the couch so that he was lying down with her sprawled out on his chest. Where they promptly fell asleep.

/\/\/\/\

Dean woke up to the sun shining directly on his face. The first thing he noticed was the major crick in his neck. The second was the warm body lying on top of him. That's when he remembered where he was and who he was with. He smiled. Even with the crick in his neck from sleeping on the couch all night, this was the life. Waking up with a beautiful woman draped over him. He bent his head down and placed a kiss on the top of Hermione's head. She stirred and looked up at him, a sleepy smile gracing her face.

"What time is it?" she asked, her voice tinged with sleep.

Dean brought his wrist up to his face, "Wow, it's ten, we must have been pretty tired to have slept this long on this couch."

"Wow, indeed. I haven't slept that well in years," Hermione said. "Usually I'm up most of the night."

Dean frowned. "Why?"

Hermione took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled. "Nightmares. I've been having them nightly for a while."

Dean closed his eyes. "I think I need coffee if we're going to be having our chat now."

Hermione gave him a small smile. "Let me go use the loo, and then I'll start the coffee, and then we can have our chat. How does that sound?"

"Like heaven," Dean responded, unwrapping his arms to allow Hermione to get up and head in the direction of her bathroom.

Once he heard the door shut, he sat up and stretched. He stood up from the couch and began to walk around the living room of the small cottage. Even though he had only stayed here for two weeks, this place already had a very distinct 'home' like feel to it. He looked around, and it didn't seem like much had changed since he was here at the beginning of the summer. Same furniture, same trinkets. He looked over at the mantle of the fireplace and noticed that it no longer just held the weird urn thing she insisted on keeping on it, it instead held several picture frames.

He walked over to the mantle to check them out. There was one of Hermione with an older couple, he assumed were her parents. The next one was of a young Hermione with two boys throwing their arms around her shoulders...

"What the hell?" Dean muttered to himself, moving closer to the picture. Did it just move? He closed his eyes and opened them again, taking a step back as the picture, as if on a loop, continuously moved. He watched the two boys throw their arms over Hermione's shoulders over and over and over again.

He moved to the next picture. It was a picture of one of the boys, the dark haired one with glasses, and a woman with red hair, dancing. The woman was wearing a white dress. It must be from a wedding. And again, the picture was moving. He moved to the next one. This one was again of a younger Hermione and the two boys, they were dressed up in formal wear, grinning at the camera, holding up medals of some kind. The last picture on the mantle was of the three teens standing with rubble in the background, the three of them looked terrible. Like they hadn't eaten well in months, and like they had been through a battle, and the loop was of them just collapsing into each other in a pile.

Dean took several steps away from the fireplace, rubbing his hands over his face, over and over.

"Fuuuuuck," he whispered, not wanting Hermione to hear him. What was going on here? Was he going crazy? He had to be going crazy. There's no way pictures could just move like that.

He looked down the hall and noticed that Hermione was still in the bathroom. There had to be a logical explanation, there had to be. He would sit back down on the couch, and wait for Hermione to come back out, and she would explain everything to him.

He moved toward the couch, and took one more look at the fireplace, and what he saw caused him to jump in the air. A man with messy black hair and round glasses had just walked out of the fireplace and was now standing in Hermione's living room.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Dean shouted.

"Oh, fuck," the man said, freezing in place.

Hearing the commotion in the living room, Hermione threw the bathroom door open and stopped in her tracks as she took in the scene in the living room.

"Bloody hell," she muttered under her breath. Dean was looking wildly between her and Harry waiting for an explanation. She took a breath. It was like ripping a band aid off, right? "Dean, I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you that I'm a witch."

**Okay, so next chapter will be up on the weekend! Please review and let me know how you think this will play out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thank you so much for the reviews and follows! Last chapter was the most popular one to date! I won't keep you guys from the next part though, so here it is!**

Hermione stood in the living room, holding her breath, while chastising herself.

_Way to be subtle, Granger,_ she thought, as she saw Dean's eyes widen and take a step toward the door.

"You're a _what?"_ he said.

"I'm a...a witch."

Dean clenched and unclenched his fist. "And you didn't think this would be something that you should tell me? I'm a hunter, Hermione. I hunt things like you. I..." he closed his mouth, and clenched his eyes shut, unable to say anymore.

Hermione closed her eyes, feeling tears building up behind them. "I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you, but we agreed no big conversations until we were back together."

Dean cursed. "Damn it, Hermione, this is not something you keep from someone."

"I wasn't sure if I could tell you. You're a muggle, and there are rules about what magical people can tell non-magical people, and I had to make sure you were going to stick around before..."

"Stop," Dean interrupted. "Just stop. I don't need or want to hear your excuses. I think I just need to get my head around this. I need to decide what I need to do about you."

"What you need to do about me?" Hermione yelled. "What do you mean 'what you need to do about me?'"

"I'm a fucking hunter Hermione. I kill demons and those who consort with demons, and according to my dad's journal that's what you do."

Hermione's mouth dropped open, "Are you...are you saying you want to kill me?"

Harry, who had been silent this whole time, moved so that he was standing between Hermione and Dean, his wand drawn in front of him.

"Try and harm her, and you'll regret it," Harry said, pointing his wand at Dean.

Dean took a step back holding his hands up in surrender.

"I never said anything about hurting or killing her, I just, I need some time to think," he said.

Hermione stepped around Harry and walked over to one of her many bookcases. She pulled out a large book and handed it to Dean.

"Please look through this before you make any snap decisions. Please," she said, wiping the tears off of her face.

Dean looked down at the cover, _Hogwarts: A History_. "Okay, I promise. But, I can't...I can't stay here. I'm sorry, but I think I need a little bit of space to think." Not waiting for a response, Dean turned to the door and opened it. Without turning around he said, "I'll be back before I have to leave town to tell you what I've decided." He opened the door and walked out.

Watching Dean leave, after being so excited to see him there the night before was just too much on Hermione. Before he even had a chance to close the door, she was collapsing to the ground in a heap, sobbing.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, moving down beside her.

She noticed Dean hesitate a moment outside the door, but still, he didn't turn around, all he did was shut her door and keep walking away.

Hermione buried her head in Harry's chest as he wrapped her in his arms.

"Shh," he said. "I'm so sorry, it's all my fault. I didn't know there would be anyone here. Usually it's safe for me to floo over. You need to take some deep breaths. It won't help anyone if you have an episode."

Hermione took a few shaky deep breaths, but it wasn't helping. Her heart was breaking for the second time in three months.

/\/\/\/\

Dean slammed open the motel room door, causing Sam to jump up from the table he was currently sitting at on his laptop.

"What are you doing here? I figured I wouldn't see you for a few days."

"She's a witch, Sammy. She's a fucking witch. What do I do now? We hunt things like this, what am I supposed to do now?" Dean said, pacing back and forth the length of the motel room, gesticulating with his hands.

"Whoa, slow down, Dean. Start at the beginning, because I'm totally lost here."

Dean sat down on the edge of the bed, placing the book Hermione handed him next to him. "Hermione is a witch," he said slowly.

Sam moved his chair to sit in front of his brother. "What makes you think that?" he asked.

"She told me."

Sam's eyebrows knit together. "Yeah, I still need a little more information."

Dean sighed. "Last night we didn't talk much, we just sort of fell asleep together on the couch, I mean it was two in the morning. This morning we decided it would be a good time to talk. I was going to tell her all about mom and the demon, and she was going to tell me about some things that I wanted to know about her. While she was freshening up in the bathroom, I went to look at these new pictures she had on her mantle, and Sam they fucking moved."

"Define moved," Sam said.

"Like a little movie on a loop," Dean explained.

"Like moved through multiple pictures...?"

"No, like the same picture, but moving," Dean explained.

"Okay, so how did it go from you seeing pictures that moved to Hermione admitting that she's a witch?"

"A man walked out of her fireplace," Dean stated.

"What the hell?"

"That's what I said. The man took one look at me and realized that he probably shouldn't have done that, and of course, I yelled. Hermione came running out from the back of her cottage, and I told her to explain what was going on, and she told me she was a witch."

"And then you all sat down and she explained everything," Sam said, knowing full well that's not what happened.

"And then I flipped out, and I'm pretty sure I implied at one point that I wanted to kill her," Dean said, hanging his head.

"Oh man, Dean. That's messed up. I got the impression last night that you really liked this girl. I mean you did say you would give up hunting for her."

Dean sighed. "I know. I'm pretty sure I've messed everything up. But, dude, she's 'supernatural.' Everything dad has taught us our entire lives leads to one conclusion: supernatural things are evil. The end."

"What's that?" Sam asked, pointing to the book on the bed, trying to put all the pieces of this puzzle together.

"Before I left, Hermione shoved this book into my hands, I have no idea what Hogwarts is, but this is the history of it."

Sam picked the book up off the bed. "Do you mind? I know you, you probably won't read this, and I'm guessing there's something in this book that she wants you to see, so let me find it, and then you'll only have to read that part."

"Or you could just tell me," Dean said laying back on the bed, placing his hands over his face.

"Or that. Hey, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not. Because the more I think about what happened at Hermione's the more I start to realize I royally messed up, and I may have lost my chance with her."

Sam opened the book and began flipping through it. "Nothing's over until you're dead. So let's see if we can fix this, okay?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Hermione was curled up on the couch, still in her pajamas, under a blanket with a cup of tea while Harry paced her living room.

"We could go to his motel room and obliviate him, and it'll be like none of this ever happened," Harry suggested.

"Harry, you know I won't perform memory charms on anyone anymore," Hermione said. Harry opened his mouth to reply. "Nor can I let you do it either. Knowing what I know now, I know that the mind is not something to mess with. I won't risk Dean's. And if he found out that I messed with his mind? That could just make everything worse."

Harry frowned. "How's your memory research going?"

Hermione looked down into her tea cup. "I'm pretty sure I can fix my parents' memories. I have a plane ticket to Australia for the holiday break. Now I just have to hope they're still where they were when I found them seven years ago."

"What are you going to do if you're successful?"

Hermione shrugged. "I try not to think about it too much, you know? Best case scenario, I fix their memories and they forgive me, and we can go back to being a happy family. Worst case scenario, I fix their memories and they hate me forever for messing with their minds, and I lose my parents a second time."

"Do you love him?" Harry asked, suddenly.

"Do I love who?" she asked confused about the sudden change in subject.

"Dean. Do you love him?"

"I don't know. It's not like when I was with Ron. I mean we're not even together, Dean and I. I just know that he's something special, and that I had to be honest with him."

"You were planning on telling him the truth today, weren't you."

"Yes, but not in the way that it happened. I was hoping to tell him gently. Ease him into it, you know?"

"And then I come hopping out of the fireplace."

Hermione smiled. "Yeah, you really didn't help there. Today would have been a good day for you to call through first. I could have explained that away a little easier."

Harry laughed. "There's the Hermione we all know and love." He grew serious again, and sat back down next to her. "You know this will all work out in the end, right?"

"How do you know?" she asked.

Harry put his arm around Hermione's shoulders and pulled her to him. "Because he hesitated for a second as he was leaving when he knew you were in pain. That's the sign of a man in love."

Hermione leaned her head on Harry's shoulder. "I hope you're right."

/\/\/\/\/\/

"Ah ha!" Sam shouted, startling Dean from where he had been laying for the last hour and a half.

"What'd you find?" Dean said, sitting up on the bed.

"This book is amazing. It's not just all about Hogwarts, it's pretty much a complete history of the wizarding world in England."

"Wizarding World? This sounds very Disney to me," Dean said. "But please continue."

"I read the introduction which explained all of the different types of wizards that are in existence. There are those who come from many generations of wizards, which are dubbed Purebloods. Then there are ones who have one wizard parent and one, what they call muggle parent, who they call Half-Bloods. And then there are ones who come from two muggle parents, who they call Muggleborns. And you'll never guess who the most famous modern day Muggleborn is."

"I have no idea," Dean said. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"First, this explains that wizards and witches are born with their powers, which begin to manifest themselves as they're children, and then they're sent to schools in order to learn all about how to use that magic. And second, the most famous Muggleborn witch in recent history is Hermione."

Dean got up from the bed. "Wait, what?"

Sam opened the book up to the last chapter. "I was skimming through the index after I read the introduction explaining all about the different types of wizards, and saw that Hermione had her own section. Her last name is Granger, right?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah it is. Hermione has her own section in this book?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "She apparently is a war hero."

Dean thought back on the letter he read sent from Hermione's ex. It had said something about a war, and how she hadn't really been the same since it. "What kind of war?"

Sam shrugged. "I really don't understand most of what is explained in this, but it had something to do with a crazy man coming back from the dead, and trying to kill this guy, Harry Potter, and he and his followers were a bunch of Purebloods who wanted to rid the world of Muggleborns. Hermione and Harry were best friends, and she fought side by side with him trying to find some way to defeat the bad guy. She's considered the brightest witch of her age, and she was awarded some big award for her part in the war," Sam explained.

Dean sat their quietly. "Wait, let's go back to the first part. So what you're saying is, Hermione was born with these powers that make her a witch?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, that's what the book explains."

Dean got up and picked up his father's journal from the table, flipping through it. "Dad wrote in here that witches make a deal with a demon and that's how they get their powers." Dean handed the journal for Sam to take a look. "So does that mean there are two different types of witches?"

"Apparently there are. Because what Dad has written here, there isn't anything like that in this book, and you would think selling your soul to a demon to get your powers would come up somewhere in this giant thing."

"So there are good witches, and there are bad witches." Dean sat back down on the bed, trying to wrap his head around this new information.

"Yes, Toto, and it seems like your Hermione is a good witch."

"So I don't have to hunt her?"

Sam shook his head. "No, you don't have to kill your girlfriend. The fact that the first thought that popped into your head was the idea that you needed to kill her, is why we're so messed up."

Dean groaned. "Oh, man, we're so fucked up. I'm not even sure I'm capable of a relationship, if my first thought at the sign of something weird is to want to kill her."

"It's not your fault, Dean, Dad is the one who messed us up for life. Seriously, if we were given a normal childhood, our first thought at hearing the word 'witch' wouldn't be 'kill the witch' it would be 'you're lying, there's no such thing as witches.'"

Dean laughed. "Oh to be innocent again."

"Again? How about ever?"

Dean laughed even harder. "I should go over and apologize, shouldn't I?"

Sam closed the book and handed to him. "Yes, you should. And I'm rooting that she accepts that apology, and I don't see your face for a couple days. I mean, I love you man, but spending every minute with you, I need a break."

Dean smiled and tucked the book up under his arm, and walked to the motel room door. "See you in a couple days."

/\/\/\/\/\

Hermione and Harry were still sitting on the couch, watching a mindless program on the telly. Hermione couldn't even say what they were watching. Her mind just kept replaying the morning over and over again in her head. She thought for sure she would be able to trust him with her secret. She even thought he would be able to handle it a little better than he did. She expected some minor freak outs, but not him declaring that he would probably want to kill her. That, she didn't even expect.

There was a knock on her door, and she looked at Harry. He sat up from where he was leaning against the arm of the couch, and withdrew his wand from his arm holster. He nodded at Hermione, letting her know that he was there in case she needed him. She stood up from the couch, and made her way to the door. She looked out the peep hole and just as she suspected, Dean was standing on her stoop, her copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ hanging in his hand at his side.

She took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob. She hesitated for a minute, unsure if she was ready to hear what he had to say. The conversation could go two ways. He could be there to apologize, or he could be there to tell her he never wanted to see her again. Or a third option that she didn't even want to think about, he could be there to kill her. Convincing herself there was no use putting off the inevitable, and if it were the third option, Harry was there to back her up, she turned the knob and opened the door.

/\/\/\/\

Dean's face fell when he took in the sight before him. Hermione looked a wreck. She was still in her pajamas, which he totally didn't even take the time last night or this morning to appreciate the amount of skin they showed off, and her hair was a tangled mess. But it was her eyes that really did a number on him. They were red rimmed and puffy. She had been crying. A lot. He swallowed, suddenly becoming even more nervous about being here.

"Hi," he said, dumbly.

"Hullo," she said.

They stood there staring at each other, nervously. Neither moved from where they were. Hermione didn't look like she was going to be inviting him in very soon.

"Did you need something?" she asked.

"I brought your book back," he said, handing the book over to her. She took it from him and clutched it to her chest.

"Oh," she said, blinking back tears. "Is that all?"

Dean stood there on her step and really looked at her for the first time. She was shorter than him by quite a bit, and she wasn't what he would describe as super skinny, but she wasn't exactly large either. He stared at this petite girl, and tried to reconcile it with the war heroine Sam said she was. He just couldn't see it. His eyes moved down her figure, and he noticed that she had a scar that started at her collarbone and disappeared under her camisole. She moved her left arm up to push her hair out of her face, and he noticed that she had scarring there too. It looked like a word had been carved into the inside, but she moved too quick for him to make it out.

That's when he remember all his time with her during the summer. All the long sleeved shirts that she wore. Her excuses about why she wouldn't wear anything low cut or even a bathing suit. Everything started to make sense, and that's when he made his decision. There was a reason they were brought together. He was a hunter, and she was the brightest witch of her age, and she had been through some messed up things. He didn't need to read the book or hear her story to know that. Yes, he still wanted—no, needed to hear what she had to say, what she had been through, but he didn't need to hear it to know that he wanted to be the one to protect her from any more danger. But even if he wasn't there all the time to protect her, he didn't need to worry about her. She could take care of herself. She was perfectly capable of surviving anything that was thrown at her. The chances of her becoming like Jessica were a lot less likely than what he assumed they would be as he was driving around worrying.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out.

Hermione snapped her head up and looked at him. "Sorry for what?" she asked softly.

"This morning. For everything. Can I come in, so we can talk?" he asked.

Hermione was quiet as she inspected him. She looked at his face closely, as if she were trying to determine if he were lying. Dean tried to look his most sincere, and Hermione must have liked what she saw, because she took a step back, allowing him to enter her home.

**So what did you guys think? The next chapter will be up around Tuesday or Wednesday, as per usual. I've had a couple ask if Hermione is going to go on a hunt with the Winchesters. Is that something you guys would like to see? I'm still finishing up chapters 13-15, and if that's something you guys would want to see, then I can easily add that in. Leave a review telling me if you would like to see Hermione hunt with the Winchester, or just telling me what you thought of this chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, I guess now's as good a time as any to warn that there are spoilers for seasons 1-5 of Supernatural, and all of Harry Potter. I know it should be obvious, but just wanted to give everyone a heads up, just in case. The HP spoilers are heavy in this chapter. The Supernatural spoilers begin in this chapter.**

Hermione watched Dean walk into the cottage and stop when he saw Harry sitting perched at the edge of the couch, with his wand drawn. She had to admit, he looked pretty menacing.

"Okay, I have to ask, what's with the sticks?" Dean asked, ignoring the deathly glare Harry sent his way.

Hermione frowned. "Didn't you read this book?" she asked.

"Sam read it for me," Dean replied. "He filled me in on the important parts."

Hermione looked at Dean in disbelief, before narrowing her eyes at him. Harry took one look at Hermione, and lowered his wand before getting up from the couch.

"I've seen that look one too many times while we were in school, I'm just going to go home now," he walked over and gave Hermione a peck on the cheek. "Floo if you need anything," he told her. He turned toward Dean. "I'll give you the older brother threat chat the next time I see you, assuming you're not here to break up with her." He walked over to the fireplace, opened the urn, pulling out a handful of floo powder before throwing it into the fireplace. "Grimmauld Place," he stated before stepping in and disappearing in a flash of green fire.

Dean stared, mouth agape at the fireplace. He turned toward Hermione, but she was too busy glaring at him.

"You didn't read the book?"

"In my defense, it's a really thick book," Dean said. "And I was pretty upset. I showed back up at the motel, and I'm pretty sure my brain had stopped to work, and Sam took care of it for me."

"What did Sam tell you that he deemed important?"

"He explained that you're a witch because you were born that way, not because you made a deal with a demon. He also said you were some kind of war hero."

Hermione blushed. She must have given him the most recent edition of the book. She didn't really want to tell him about her time during the war through the book though. That was part of the talk she was planning on having with him later.

"How much do you know about the war?" she asked.

"Not much, just that you were like second banana to some guy named Harry, and you helped good triumph over evil."

Hermione laughed. "Sam really over simplified everything didn't he?"

Dean smiled. "He knew he had to talk me down, and the easiest way to do that was to make things as simple as possible."

Hermione's smile slipped from her face. "Were you really planning on killing me?"

Dean walked until he was directly in front of Hermione. He reached out, placing his hand on her chin and lifted it so she was looking at him. He stared deeply into her eyes. Hermione had a passing thought that one could get lost in those green eyes. She noticed that his gaze was the most serious she had ever seen from him, in the short time they had known each other.

"It crossed my mind for a brief second. But the more I thought about my reaction, and the more I thought about, well, everything, the more I knew that even if you were a 'bad witch,' I would never be able to go through with harming you. I just care too damn much about you."

Hermione felt a tear slip down her face, she hadn't even realized she was crying. "I thought I had lost you, I didn't think you were going to come back."

Dean smirked. "It's going to take a lot more than revealing that you're a witch to get rid of me. Now if you were a demon then I would kill your ass."

Hermione laughed. "Then it's a good thing I'm not a demon."

Dean pressed a kiss to her forehead before taking a step back. "I think I'm going to get on the phone and order pizza from that place we like and have it delivered. Once it's here, I think it's time that we have our long awaited talk."

Hermione took in a deep breath. "Okay, it's now or never, right?"

"Now or never."

/\/\/\/\/\

Hermione and Dean sat around the coffee table, eating pizza, neither one wanting to be the first one to start talking. Finally, Hermione sighed and put the slice of pizza that was in her hand down on her plate.

"Oh, this is ridiculous, I might as well start first."

Dean set his pizza down, giving her his full attention.

"I found out I was a witch at eleven. I was ecstatic, of course, and my parents were relieved, because it explained the weird things that I could do. I met my two best friends in the world on the train ride to Hogwarts, which is the school for magical children to learn how to do spells, and the history of the magical world. At first they didn't like me, but after they rescued me from a troll in the girls' bathroom, we have been inseparable."

"A troll?" Dean asked.

Hermione nodded, "A troll."

Dean shook his head and let out a low whistle. "I wasn't aware that trolls existed."

"Well, I'm sure there are lots of things that you encounter that I wasn't aware existed either."

Dean considered that. "Touché, please continue."

"I guess I should explain a little about Harry in order for any of the rest of this story to make sense. Before Harry was born, there was a Dark Wizard, called Voldemort, trying to take over the wizarding world. He and his followers, The Death Eaters, were wanting to purify the wizarding community by getting rid of people like me and also muggles as well. After Harry was born there was a prophecy about someone who would go on to defeat Voldemort. After hearing the prophecy, Voldemort determined that it meant Harry, so Harry's parents went into hiding. One of their best friends served Voldemort and sold them out. Voldemort went to Harry's home, killed his parents, and when he turned his wand on Harry, the killing curse rebounded, destroying Voldemort instead.

"So fast forward to our time in Hogwarts. For the first three years there was a dastardly plan from Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters, to try and kill Harry, and each year I was beside him, helping him save the day, along with our friend, Ron."

"Your ex," Dean interrupted.

Hermione nodded, "My ex. Anyway, our fourth year culminated in the death of a fellow student, and the return of Voldemort to the land of the living. Our fifth year we spent most of it trying to convince everyone that Voldemort was really back, and trying to survive school under the thumb of a cruel teacher. That year culminated in Harry, Ron, myself and a few more of our friends fighting some Death Eaters in our Ministry of Magic. I nearly died that night," she pulled down the neck of her camisole revealing more of the scar that peeked out over the top.

"How far does that go?" Dean asked quietly.

"It stops around my rib cage," she answered just as quietly.

"Knife?"

She shook her head, "A dark curse. Luckily the man who cast it had a silencing spell on him, or else it would have been more powerful, and I wouldn't be here right now."

Dean swallowed hard, trying to wrap his mind around curses and fighting, "How old were you?"

"I was sixteen."

"So young," he murmured.

Hermione shrugged. "We didn't have a choice. The adults were doing the best they could to keep us out of everything, but try as they might, Harry was still a target, and we were still his best friends. We couldn't just leave him to fend for himself.

"Sixth year was the year the Death Eaters invaded the castle and killed our Headmaster. Seventh year was the year we were on the run. Voldemort had caused our government to fall, and Harry became Undesirable Number One. That was the year they enacted the Muggleborn Registration Act, which essentially was an excuse for them to accuse muggleborns of stealing magic, and have us executed. Harry, Ron and I spent the year hiding out and camping throughout England, hunting objects that Voldemort had used to keep himself alive. We knew if we could destroy all of those objects, Harry would be able to defeat Voldemort, and he would be gone for good. We were doing really well, avoiding being caught, but one day Harry wasn't careful enough, and we were captured," Hermione paused, trying to keep control of her emotions.

"We were brought to the headquarters for questioning. We had something that one of the Death Eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange, knew should be in her vault at our bank, she was furious. They sent Harry and Ron to the dungeons, but kept me upstairs," Hermione swallowed, her breathing increased, her hands shaking a little, as she remembered her time at Malfoy Manor. Tears slipped down her cheeks. "She tortured me, screaming at me to tell her where we got the sword. I refused to answer. Over and over and over again, she used this curse, it's called the Cruciatus Curse, it's like being shocked with electricity, only worse. When I still wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know, she pulled out her cursed dagger, and carved into my arm," she moved her arm so that Dean could see the scar marring her skin.

Dean moved closer so that he could see the scar better. "What's mudblood mean?"

"Dirty blood. It's a derogatory term used for muggleborns," Hermione answered.

Dean traced over the scar softly with his finger, "Your seizures aren't regular seizures are they."

Hermione shook her head. "It's the after effects of being under the curse so long."

Dean moved and pulled her to him in a fierce hug. "You're so brave. I just can't even imagine going through everything that you went through, and surviving."

"That's not the end of my story, we had a final battle. Lots of my friends died. Harry defeated Voldemort, we were supposed to live happily ever after. Except I couldn't stand to be in England anymore. You see, before I ran away with Harry and Ron, I did something that I still regret to this day. I had a gut feeling that my parents would be targeted by Death Eaters, so I erased every memory they had of me, and planted the idea that they wanted to move to Australia. After the war, I tracked them down, and turns out, I did the charm too well, and couldn't reverse it. So being in England just reminded me of too much, the war, my friends who I lost, and my parents, so I came here for University. Coming here, my nightmares eased a little, but I still wake up screaming every night because of what I experienced in the war."

Dean pulled back and looked at her face. "I stayed here for two weeks, and I never heard you wake up screaming once."

Hermione gave him a watery smile. "Silencing charm."

Dean smoothed down her hair before cupping her face in his. "Everything that I thought about you has been proven wrong tonight. I have been worried about you getting caught in our lifestyle, that if a demon or a monster came after you, that you wouldn't know how to defend yourself. But hearing everything that you've gone through? I've realized that you're crazy strong and fierce, and that you can take care of yourself, so I should stop worrying about what would happen if I'm not here to protect you. But I just want to let you know, before I stormed out of here this morning spouting all kinds of crazy, I was planning to tell you that I want to be there for you. I want to try this, whatever it is between us, out. And hearing your story, that has just cemented that I want to see what there is between us, because, my god, Hermione, you're one kick-ass chick."

Hermione giggled through her tears at that confession, it helped ease the pain of remembering everything she went through that final year of the war. "Well, Dean, even though I haven't heard your story yet, I have to say, I'm pleased that you want to see what there is between us, because I, too, would like to see what comes of whatever this is."

Dean's couldn't keep the goofy grin that spread across his face away as he leaned in, closing the gap between them, and placing a soft kiss on her mouth.

Hermione melted as his lips touched hers. It was everything she had hoped it would be. She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. They held each other close, lips moving slowly in unison, as they poured everything they felt into the kiss. For a while the rest of the world, all of their troubles, just melted away. They were able to lose themselves in each other, just for a moment.

Dean pulled away, resting his forehead on hers.

"Thank you for sharing that with me," Dean said, quietly, not moving.

"The kiss?" Hermione said, confused.

"You're story," Dean said. "It couldn't be easy reopening that can of worms. And I would like to repay you. I need to tell you my past."

Hermione placed a kiss on the tip of his nose before pulling back. "You don't have to do that."

Dean shook his head. "We made a deal. We're in person, we're fessing up and telling each other everything. Coming clean. You were brave enough to share your past with me, and even though mine isn't nearly as horrible as yours, I feel like I owe it to you to share with you."

Hermione unraveled her arms from Dean's neck and pushed herself a respectable distance away, while still being close. Dean wiped a hand down his face, and sat quietly, trying to figure out where to start.

He took a deep breath. "When I was four, my mother was killed by a demon in my brother Sam's nursery. Ever since that night, my father has been seeking revenge for her death. He has dragged my brother and me all over this country, picking up jobs. I have never lived somewhere for more than a few weeks. I have called that Impala and shitty motel rooms home for most of my life. I've made no attachments, you're actually the first person, who isn't my dad or brother, who I've felt close to, pretty much in forever. You want to know what's messed up? I was six or seven the first time that my dad took me to the shooting range and taught me how to shoot a gun. I can count on one hand the number of normal family activities I have participated in the last twenty years. When I should have been throwing a ball around, or playing games, I was raising my brother.

"You know what the most painful thing that happened to me is? A couple years ago, Sam decided he was tired of the life of a hunter, and went off to college, severing all ties with us. Do you know what it's like to be with someone all the time, and then to suddenly have no contact with them? To have all of your calls ignored? And the fucked up thing is, it took our dad going missing for him to decide I'm worth his time. And not only that, when I went and found him at Stanford? Originally he wasn't going to come with me to find our dad. It wasn't until the same fucking demon that killed our mom killed his girlfriend that he decided to tag along. And now he's on his own little revenge mission, and it scares the shit out of me that it's going to get him killed."

The entire time Dean talked, he never looked up from a spot on the coffee table. Hermione scooted herself closer to him, and forced him to look at her.

"That is a legitimate fear, Dean. Revenge is a messy ordeal, and it probably doesn't help that amidst your father's revenge mission, he has gone missing," Hermione said, once she had eye contact. "I can't imagine what it's been like not having a home. But I can relate to having to grow up too fast. I guess that's one thing we have in common, we were dealt shitty hands when it came to our childhood."

"I wish we had something better in common, like both our moms did yoga."

"Or both our dad's played Santa at the mall," Hermione said, with a smile on her face.

"Or we both could recite Shakespeare while standing on our heads," Dean said, with a wider smile.

Hermione giggled, before sobering up. "Maybe it was fate that we ran into each other this summer. Maybe we're meant to be together to help one another heal."

Dean scoffed. "I don't believe in fate. I think everything is a coincidence."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Well, believe whatever you want, I'm going to choose to believe that we were brought together for a reason, and I for one am excited to see what that reason is."

"I'll let you believe whatever you want, sweetheart. Whatever makes you sleep better at night."

Hermione grew serious. "You make me sleep better at night."

Dean looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Last night, when we slept together on the couch, it was the first nightmare free night I've had since I can remember."

Dean smirked, "Well, I guess that means I won't be sleeping on the couch anymore while I visit, doesn't it."

Hermione shoved him playfully. "You can sleep in my bed, but just sleeping, alright? I don't think I'm ready for the relationship to go to the next level."

Dean raised his right hand. "Scouts honor."

Hermione dissolved into giggles, before tossing a pillow at Dean's head. "Alright, you tosser, it's getting late, and I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted and emotionally drained. How about we call it an early night, and start fresh in the morning?"

Dean answered by leaping to his feet, and scooping Hermione up in his arms before dragging her off to the bedroom, as she laughed and squealed the whole way.

/\/\/\/\

They spent three days holed up in Hermione's cottage, ordering in take out and using what little resources Hermione had on hand to cook. Hermione spent most of the days showing off spells to Dean. He was incredibly curious, and now that he knew her magic was "good magic" he wanted to know everything about it. Hermione had a hard time trying to simplify the explanations, but she mostly tried to perform spells that had a visual or physical payoff. Dean's favorite spell was the Patronus charm. He would not stop laughing at her otter dancing around the room. And like a small child, would chant "again!" whenever it would disappear.

Dean described the jobs he and Sam had worked on while they worked their way to her. Hermione laughed as Dean described his hesitancy to board the plane during the most recent job, and when questioned, Hermione pointed out that they could add "fear of flying" to the list of things they had in common, which was steadily growing as they spent time together.

The morning of the third day, their paradise was invaded when Dean's phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Dean, I really hate to do this to you, man, but there's a job in Toledo that we really need to go check out. I'll give you fifteen to say goodbye and get ready, and I'll be outside in the Impala," Sam said.

Dean sighed, looking over to where Hermione sat on the bed eating a donut while reading some book. She was always reading something. "Okay, see you then." He hung up, and turned toward Hermione.

She lowered her book, and looked at him, sadness invading her eyes. "You're leaving," she stated.

Dean nodded. "There's a job in Toledo, Sam and I need to take care of it."

Hermione gave him a half smile. "I understand." She grew quiet. "Do you have any idea when you think you would be able to come back?"

Dean shook his head. "I honestly have no idea. We need to find our dad. If we find ourselves back anywhere near here, you know I'll be back in a heartbeat."

Hermione smiled. "Yeah, I know. I think I'm going to miss you more now than I did when you left the first time."

Dean walked over and sat on the bed next to her. "I will call you every night. I will make sure my voice will be the last thing you hear before you go to sleep. Maybe that will help keep the nightmares at bay."

Hermione looked at the man sitting beside her, and tried to puzzle out how she got lucky to have him in her life. She wrapped her arms around him, and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "You're amazing. Please promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"I promise," Dean said.

/\/\/\/\/\

SEVEN MONTHS LATER

Hermione was jostled from her deep sleep by the shrill ringing of her mobile. She sprung up from bed and retrieved it. The caller ID read 'Dean,' and her heart leapt into her throat.

Just like he had promised before he left, he called her every night. They would talk for five to ten minutes, and then Hermione would go to sleep. While her nights weren't entirely nightmare free, they weren't nearly as bad as they were before.

A few weeks before, Dean stopped in for a quick visit on their way back west after a case in Upstate New York. He said they had a lead on their dad, and they couldn't stay longer than a few hours. During those few hours, they made up for lost time, and spent most of the time snogging. Poor Sam, whom she still hadn't had a chance to meet, sat outside in the Impala the whole time. She felt a little bad for him, and had insisted Dean let him come in, but Dean had replied that he didn't want to mix 'business with pleasure.' She tried to argue, but he stopped that with a kiss. Three hours later, she was kissing him goodbye with the promise that it wouldn't be so long between visits from now on.

However, during the last two weeks after they had left, she hadn't heard from Dean at all. She tried calling him a few times, but he never answered his phone. She was starting to get worried that something had happened to him. But now, he was calling her. In the middle of the night. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Her hands shook as she flipped the phone open and brought it to her ear.

"Hullo?"

"Hermione?" a voice asked on the other end of the phone.

Hermione almost dropped the phone. This wasn't Dean. Why wouldn't Dean be calling from his phone? "Yes?" she managed to say.

The person on the other end of the phone took a deep breath. "This is Sam."

Hermione sank onto the bed. "Sam, why are you calling from Dean's phone? In the middle of the night?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a long time. Hermione had to check to make sure she wasn't disconnected. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sam spoke up. "There was an accident."

Hermione's free hand flew to her mouth to hold back the panic that was aching to come out. She forced herself to speak calmly. "What kind of accident? Is Dean okay?"

"The Impala was t-boned by a semi," Sam paused, swallowing, his voice growing more emotional as he spoke. "Dean's in a coma."

**Please review. **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thank you for all the reviews and follows and favorites! I try and respond to all the reviews. If I don't respond or I respond to you twice, I'm sorry. I have an 8 month old who has decided sleep is for the weak, so my brain is functioning on 3-6 hours of sleep a night. Also, if I don't update on the day I typically update, it's because said baby didn't take a nap. Alright, I'm done rambling. Thanks to my beta, chiisai-kitty as always for getting me this chapter. **

EARLIER THAT NIGHT

Sam sat in the hallway of the hospital with his head in his hands. Both his dad and his brother were patients in this hospital, and he couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. He was the one driving when they got hit. He was the one who couldn't kill the demon with the Colt like his dad ordered him to. His dad only had a few minor scrapes and the gunshot wound to his leg, but Dean...the doctors weren't being too positive about Dean.

Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out Dean's phone. He flipped it open and saw the missed calls from Hermione. Dean had been determined to keep up with keeping in touch with her, but after running into their father, and searching for the Colt, and preventing the Yellow-eyed demon from killing all of his dad's friends, Dean had stopped calling her. Every night, his phone would ring, and Dean would ignore it, saying he would call Hermione once they took care of the demon. Sam clenched the phone in his fist.

He should call her, shouldn't he? She obviously cared about Dean. Dean didn't share a lot about their relationship, he wasn't even entirely sure what they were to each other. He knew that when they were in Salem several months ago, he never saw Dean after he sent him back to her. As he wandered about town, he was surprised that he never ran into them once, and it was a small town. When he questioned Dean about it later, he just said they never left the house, they just ordered take out. When they visited a few weeks ago, again, they didn't leave the house, but they only were in town for a couple hours, and when Dean exited the cottage, there was no question as to what they were up to in there.

He never questioned what they did while they were at Hermione's that first time, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to know. But that being said, if Dean were not never wake up, wouldn't she want the choice to be here? He sighed again, and hit dial on the phone.

"Hullo?" he heard on the other end of the line. He was thrown off for a second before he remembered that she was British.

"Hermione?" he asked, even though he was pretty sure that's who it was.

The other line was quiet for a long while. "Yes?" she answered, trepidation in her voice. It was as if she already knew that something was wrong. Sam cursed to himself, of course she knew something was wrong, he was calling her from Dean's phone.

He took a deep breath. "This is Sam."

He heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the phone. "Sam, why are you calling from Dean's phone? In the middle of the night?" Her voice didn't sound like he thought it would. He thought she would be more emotional. Instead she sounded very authoritative and in control over emotions. He could really picture the war heroine he read about in that book.

He sat for a minute, trying to decide how much he wanted to tell her. How much did she know? Dean always called her privately, so he didn't know how much he was telling her. He decided to start off slowly. "There was an accident."

"What kind of accident? Is Dean okay?" Hermione asked, her voice starting to show some emotion leaking through.

"The Impala was t-boned by a semi," Sam paused, swallowing, his voice growing more emotional as he spoke. "Dean's in a coma."

He heard a strangled sob on the other end of the line. "Where are you?"

"Hermione, I don't think-"

"Where. Are. You."

"We're at the hospital in Jefferson City. The doctors really don't know what's going on right now. One minute they're saying he's going to be fine, the next there're machines going off in his room and-"

"There're machines going off in his room!?" Hermione screeched, causing Sam to move the phone away from his ear. "Where is the closest airport to Jefferson City?" she asked.

"Hermione-"

"Sam, where is it?"

Sam sighed. "I'm assuming it's in Jefferson City," he said. "Hermione, can you please take breath and calm down for a second?"

"Okay," he heard her say before he heard a couple deep breaths coming over the line. "Okay, I'm calm. Now explain what's been going on, and why I haven't heard from Dean in weeks."

"What do you know?" he said. There was no use lying to her. If Dean didn't tell her everything it's his own damn fault.

"Last I talked to Dean was when you guys left here after your case in Upstate New York," Hermione replied. "Before he left, he said you guys had a lead on your father."

"We found him, our father that is," Sam said.

"That's great! I need details."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief as Hermione seemed to be calming down. Not sure what all Dean had told her, he started with the very beginning. He talked about about life on the road, he talked about leaving for Stanford, and meeting and falling in love with Jess. About losing Jess. About life on the road with his brother while they tried to meet back up with their dad. About the strange new powers he was exhibiting, the premonitions, the random telepathy. About the Colt, the yellow-eyed demon and how he possessed their dad, and how he failed. Failed to kill the demon, failed his dad and brother by not seeing the semi coming directly toward them. About how scared he was that he was going to lose his brother, his best friend.

Hermione was amazing. She listened to him the whole time, offering encouraging words when appropriate. He could really see why Dean liked her, and if Dean hadn't met her first, he would totally have asked her out.

"Sam," she said when he was done. "You can't blame yourself. It's not your fault. Anyone else in your position wouldn't have been able to kill their own father in order to kill a demon. I'm sure no one is blaming you for this."

Sam took a breath and held it, trying to fight back tears. "Hermione, I hope you're right."

"Of course I'm right, I'm always right."

Sam barked a laugh. "You're amazing, did you know that?"

"I've been told once or twice," she said, he could almost hear the smirk in her voice. "You know, I have a plane ticket to Jefferson City in my shopping cart right now. I could be there tomorrow evening."

Sam thought about it. He would love the support and the company. But it wasn't fair to have her come here for him to lean on, when she was probably just as distraught as he was.

"Don't click purchase yet. Let me talk to the doctors. He could be fine, and if he is, we'll probably head out of here as soon as possible up to Sioux Falls so he can work on the car."

"Oh, no. I forgot about the car. How bad?"

"Family friend told me that it would be impossible to fix. I told him that Dean wouldn't think so, so he took it to his yard in Sioux Falls, to await Dean to come and fix it up."

Hermione was quiet on the other end of the phone. "I'm going to listen to your advice Sam Winchester and not fly out tomorrow morning on the first flight to Jefferson City, mostly because I don't have any plans to leave a substitute. However, if you don't keep me up to date, I will fly out there, and I will curse you, understand?"

"Completely," Sam said quickly.

"And when, and I mean when, not if, Dean wakes up, you better have him call me, and then I will meet you guys in Sioux Falls and see if I can help at all with fixing that bloody car."

"I promise that if I can't get Dean on the phone, that I will personally call you. And I will tell Dean about you meeting us at Bobby's."

"No! I want that to be a surprise. Sioux Falls, right? And where is the place that the Impala is being fixed?"

Sam told her the address of Singer Salvage. "You'll be able to get there?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. Sam, please keep me posted on his condition. I'm probably not going to be able to sleep tonight, I can already feel the ulcer I'm going to get from worrying about him."

"You really care about him don't you?"

"I do."

"Listen, I-"

"Sam, I-" John Winchester said as he approached where Sam was sitting in the hall. "Who are you talking to?"

"Hey, Hermione, I need to go, but I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

"Okay, Sam, thank you for calling. I really do appreciate it."

"No problem."

They said their goodbyes and hung up. Sam turned to his dad.

"What'd you need?"

"Who were you talking to?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does, I heard you giving out Bobby's address, so you know for damn sure it matters, Sam."

Sam sighed. "Her name is Hermione, she and Dean have been, for lack of a better word, dating, for pretty much the last year. I thought she deserved to know that he was in an accident and that he wasn't doing well."

"Dean has been dating someone for a year? Doesn't he know that he can't do that?"

"I'm pretty sure he can, and they've been making it work pretty well. She's been good for him."

John sighed. "Well, when he wakes up, I'm going to talk some sense into him. Do you have what I asked for?"

Sam reached down and picked up a bag, but held it out of reach. "You won't mess this up for Dean. He has sacrificed his happiness for us for too long, he deserves to be happy, and Hermione makes him happy."

John threw his arms up in frustration. "Fine, I'll let him pretend to be normal for a little bit, but don't be surprised if this ends up in heartbreak. Now give me the stuff."

Sam handed the bag over to John, who grabbed it out of his hands and limped away. Sam stuffed Dean's phone back into his pocket before standing up, stretching, and walking back to Dean's room to continue his vigil at his brother's bed. Except this time he would do it with a lighter conscience, because now he had Hermione's voice in his head telling him that it was not his fault.

/\/\/\/\

Within two hours of hanging up with Sam, Hermione had researched everything there was to know about Jefferson City and it's hospital. She felt fairly confident that she could picture the street outside of the hospital clearly enough to apparate there on a moments notice. It was risky, but if Sam called and said that Dean was crashing, she would be able to be there in seconds rather than hours. She also found a Google Earth image of Singer Salvage and was currently committing it to memory. As soon as Sam told her they were there, she was going to wait a couple hours and apparate over. Again, it would give her instant results and have her reunited with Dean as soon as possible.

She stood up from the computer and began to pace. She looked at her clock. It was four in the morning. Which made it nine in the morning in London. She picked up her international phone and dialed her parents' number.

During the holidays she had traveled to Australia with Harry and Ginny in tow and had found her parents. They were right where she had found them seven years ago. She approached them and before they could question her, she reversed the memory spell. As expected they were upset with her messing with their minds. However, that anger only lasted a couple days, and the third day found her answering her hotel room door to find her parents standing there, ready to reunite.

They spent the rest of the holidays catching up and planning her parents' move back to England. She tried to convince them to come to the States, but they were ready to be home. And she could totally understand that. She immediately got a phone to use to make international calls, so she was able to keep in touch with them easier and more often.

She tapped her foot as she listened to the phone ring.

"Hullo?" her mom's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Mum?" Hermione said, the tears she had been holding back all night, sprung to her eyes, her voice cracking.

"Hermione? What's wrong?"

Hermione broke down and started sobbing. "It's Dean," she said. "He was in an accident."

Mrs. Granger gasped. "Is he okay?"

Hermione took a shuddering breath, trying to control her emotions. "I don't know. His brother called me and said he's in a coma and that the doctors aren't sure what's going to happen with his condition. He said he would call when he knew anything. Mum, I'm scared."

"What you need to do right now, Hermione, is take a deep breath and calm down. You don't need to be having one of your episodes, because then you won't be any good to anyone."

Hermione followed her mother's directions, and took several deep breaths. She found that it was helping get her calm, and that was helping her think straight. "I'm better."

"Next you're going to stop thinking the worst of the situation. His brother said that they weren't sure about his condition, so it could go either way, right?"

"Right."

"I know that you're used to things getting bad before they get better, but for once I need you to think optimistically for once. He will get better, and you will be reunited. What's the plan for when he gets better?"

Hermione took another deep breath. "I'm supposed to meet them at a salvage yard where they will be fixing up the car."

"He really loves that car, doesn't he?"

Hermione gave a small laugh, "More than anything."

"Have you purchased your tickets yet?"

"I haven't, I'm planning on apparating."

"I thought you had to have been a place in order to apparate?" her mom asked.

"Generally, yes, that's the idea, however, technically you have to be able to clearly visualize a place, and so I've spent the last several hours studying photographs on the internet of the places I'm going to go."

"Oh, Hermione," her mom said, pity in her voice. "Have you slept at all?"

"I was asleep when Sam called, so that counts, right?"

"Sweetheart, you're going to hang up the phone with me and go have a lie down. Try and get some sleep. There's nothing you can do right now. You know somewhere in your mind that that's true."

Hermione sighed. "You're right. Okay, I'm going to go try for a couple hours. I'm probably going to call in sick to work anyway."

"I love you, and you call me if you need to talk, I don't need you keeping this all inside and bottling it up until you have an episode. I worry about you being all alone there," her mom lectured.

"I will. I love you too."

Hermione hung up the phone before bringing both her phones to set next to her bed. There was no way she was going to miss another call. She laid down in her bed, her mind still running a mile a minute, before exhaustion finally kicked in. Instead of dreaming of Malfoy Manor and Bellatrix LeStrange, she dreamt of a 1967 Impala getting T-boned over and over and over...

/\/\/\/\/\

_Riiiiiing. Riiiiiiinngg. Riiiiing!_

Hermione jolted up from the bed, fumbling around for the phone. She didn't even look to see who was on the caller ID before answering.

"Hullo?"

"He's awake, he's in the process of being discharged, and we're heading up to Sioux Falls tonight," Sam's voice came through the phone.

Hermione couldn't suppress the smile spreading over her face. "He's okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Listen, I've gotta go and finish some stuff. I'll see you at Bobby's?"

Hermione frowned. Something was off, but she was afraid to ask him what it was. She didn't think she wanted any more bad news over the phone. "Yeah, I'll be there tomorrow afternoon. Will you guys be there by then?"

"Yeah, we should. Still don't want me to tell Dean?"

"Yeah, I want it to be a surprise."

"Okay, then I guess we'll see you then," Sam said.

"Yeah, I guess you-" Hermione didn't finish her sentence, the click of Sam hanging up on the other side of the line interrupting her.

She stared at her phone before closing it. There was definitely something going on that Sam wasn't telling her. She would have to push him to find out. Until then, she had a trip to pack for.

That evening and the following morning was a flurry of preparing for her trip. She brought back out her trusty beaded bag and shrank everything she needed to fit inside. She arranged for the rest of the year to be taken care of by her favorite sub, and the school was very understanding when she explained that her boyfriend had almost died, and she needed to be with him. The following evening found her standing in her living room, taking one last look around to make sure she took care of everything. She picked up the picture she had printed out of Singer Salvage and studied it closely one last time. She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of everything, except for a clear picture of where she was heading, turning on the spot and disappearing with a crack.

**AN: Please Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Starting in this chapter, I'm going to start earning that "M" rating. Just a heads up.**

Dean kicked open the door to the house and limped outside. He saw the car that was formerly his baby and began to slowly make his way over to it. He stood there, looking at the damage. The car was almost unrecognizable. Not just as the Impala, but as a car in general. The truck really did a number on the car. As he looked at the car he could just feel all of his frustrations from the last twenty-four hours bubble over. He picked up a stick that was lying on the ground, closed the short distance between him and the car, and just started beating the shit out of the car.

He was angry that the car was ruined. He was angry that the demon got away. He was angry that Hermione wouldn't answer his calls. He was pissed that after everything his dad was dead. And most of all he was angry that his dad expected him to kill his brother if it ever came down to it. He beat the car with the stick until it broke, and then continued to kick the car, punch the car, anything to make him feel less angry.

"Whoa! Dean, stop!" he heard from behind him, but he ignored it. He just kept focusing on beating the shit out of his car. He moved in for another kick, but was dragged away.

"What the hell, Sam?" He shouted, whipping his body around so he could get a good look at Sam.

"What are you doing? You just got released from the hospital. You're supposed to be taking it easy."

"I don't need to take it easy, I want to get started on my car," Dean said, trying to turn back to the car.

Sam increased his grip on him, and dragged him back. "You need to go back upstairs and rest. There's been too much going on the last couple days for you to do this. The car will be here when you're better."

"I'm not supposed to be better, Sam," Dean yelled. "I'm the one who's supposed to be taking the dirt nap, not dad."

"You don't know that. Dad's injuries could have been much worse off than we thought they were. You're alive, you have to remember that. Grieve for Dad, but don't feel guilty about his death."

"I'll grieve for Dad the way I want and that way is to-"

_CRACK!_

Dean and Sam both jumped and began looking around.

"What the hell?" Dean yelled.

"I think it came from the front of the house," Sam said.

"Yeah, I get that, but what in the world was it?"

"Car crash?" Sam replied.

Dean raised his eyebrow.

"Bolt of electricity?"

"There's only one way to find out," Dean said, limping his way around Sam and walking toward the front of the house.

"Dean, wait, you should go rest, and I'll go check it out," Sam said catching up with him.

"I'm not that injured, I can go and investigate the weird sound," Dean said.

Hobbling toward the front of the house, he ignored the huffy sigh from his brother, and ignored the footsteps that followed him. He actually hoped that the sound was something supernatural, because he could use a good fi-

Dean came to an abrupt stop once he reached the front of the house and caught sight of what was more than likely the cause of the noise. Standing in Bobby's front yard, looking all kinds of cute, was Hermione.

She must have heard them come around the corner, because she looked up, and the two of them locked eyes. They stood there just staring at each other for a minute, before Hermione dropped the bag she was holding to the ground and broke out into a run. Dean barely had time to register what was going on before he had an armful of witch and a face full of curls.

"Oh my god, I didn't want to believe it until I saw you in person," Hermione mumbled into his shoulder.

Dean didn't care how she got here, or how she knew where to find them, all he cared about was the woman in his arms. He pulled back from her, cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips firmly to hers. It didn't take long for Hermione to react and begin kissing him back. Their lips melded together as Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer. He traced her lips with his tongue causing Hermione to gasp, opening for him to dart his tongue in, deepening the kiss. Hermione clung to him, as the kiss became more and more heated. Dean ran his hands down her back, stopping to cup her ass and lift her so that her legs wrapped around his waist.

Remembering that they were standing in the front yard of his "uncles" house, Dean broke their kiss, but didn't put Hermione down. Instead he began walking them toward the house, toward his bedroom, and his bed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Hermione snuggled in close to Dean, laying her head on his bare chest, while pulling the covers up over her naked body. While having sex wasn't really on the plan when she decided to come check up on Dean, it was a totally awesome by product. If she had known how mind-blowing it would be, she would have slept with him when he stopped by for a few hours after New York.

Dean was running his hand up and down her spine, and it was relaxing her. Considering she hadn't really slept in the last few days worrying about him, she was beginning to feel the draw of sleep coming her way.

"How did you know where to find us?" Dean asked, softly, still running his hand down her body.

"Sam told me while you were in the coma. I wanted to come to Jefferson City the minute Sam called and told me you were in hospital. But he told me to stay away. And he gave me this address, and told me to meet you guys here."

Dean stopped moving his hand. "Sam talked to you while I was in the coma?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, he called me and ended up breaking down and telling me pretty much everything. When I say everything, he started at the very beginning. We were on the phone for a while. Of course once he hung up, all I could do was worry, and stare at the phone, willing it to ring and tell me that you were okay."

"The last minute plane ticket here must have been expensive, let me give you some money for it."

"Yeah, about that, I didn't fly here."

"If you didn't fly here, then how did you get here?"

Hermione was quiet. How to explain how she got here in a way that a muggle could understand? "I apparated here," she started.

"What does that mean?"

Hermione struggled for a minute to try and find a simple way to explain it, and then she remembered an old muggle show she used to watch with her parents. "It's like teleportation. We use three d's, Destination, Determination and Deliberation. Which means that I have to clear my mind and picture the place I want to go perfectly, and then focus so that I can get there. I can get from one place to another in a matter of seconds."

"But you've never been here before. How were you able to picture Bobby's house perfectly enough to teleport here?"

"I looked up a picture of the front of the house using Google Earth. I studied the picture for hours. And then I took a chance."

Dean sat up, causing Hermione to roll off of him. "Wait, what would have happened if you didn't picture this place perfectly?"

Hermione readjusted herself on the bed. "Best case scenario, I wouldn't have been able to apparate out of my house."

"And worst case scenario?"

"I would splinch myself and land somewhere I didn't intend, and probably bleed out," Hermione said matter of factly.

"Fuck," Dean swore, running his hand through his hair. "Why the hell would you put yourself in danger like that?"

"I had to see you!" Hermione almost shouted.

"Then take a fucking airplane like a normal person, don't experiment and do something that could potentially end your life!" Dean shouted back.

"I couldn't wait that long! I haven't slept in two days, Dean. I've been worried sick about you! You almost died, you wanker!"

"Not my fault, sweetheart. I didn't put myself deliberately in the path of that semi."

"I know that," Hermione started.

"No, let me finish. I didn't put myself in the line of that semi, and I know that my job is dangerous, but I don't need you doing something stupid like splinching yourself, whatever that is, and getting yourself killed. I worry too much about my job catching up with you for you to be putting yourself in danger deliberately."

"I don't know why you worry about me, I can take care of myself," Hermione huffed. "I'm sure any of the curses I know would apprehend a demon long enough for me to get to safety."

"I know you are pretty badass and can handle yourself, but I'm still allowed to worry, I am your boyfriend."

Hermione's jaw dropped. This was the first time that there had been any semblance of a definition to their relationship. "You're my what?"

Dean flinched realizing what he did. He shrugged. "I'm your boyfriend. I thought that was pretty clear, what with the worrying, and the constant phone calls and visits, and the sex..."

Hermione smiled widely. "Well, we've just never really defined what we were to each other, before now."

Dean smiled back at her. "Well, I'm defining it now."

Hermione launched herself at Dean, and he caught her, drawing her close to him, as they started on round two.

/\/\/\/\/\

Dean was awoken suddenly from the sound of a whimper next to him. Disoriented, it took him a few minutes to remember where he was and who was next to him. He rolled over, and looked at Hermione's back as she slept next to him. He didn't know how she knew that her presence was exactly what he needed at the exact moment she appeared, but he was so grateful that she was here with him. They hadn't left the bedroom since she arrived, and had talked and made love until the night grew late, and the time difference caught up with Hermione and his injuries caught up with him, and they fell asleep. He watched her even breathing and wondered how he got so lucky to meet and end up with someone like her.

She told him about Sam's phone call in a little more detail, and he was so grateful that his brother had her to lean on in his time of need. He didn't like the fact that his brother needlessly worried her about him, but I guess if the roles were reversed, he would want to know if she were in the hospital gravely injured.

Hermione whimpered in her sleep again, and twitched a little. Dean frowned and moved closer to her, wrapping his arm around her, drawing her body into his. She had told him that her nightmares were better when she wasn't alone, but she never said how much better. It ached him to see her suffering in her sleep. She settled down a little, and he began to dose back off, soothed by the softness and warmth of her body against his, when she suddenly began to thrash again in her sleep.

Dean sat up, placing a hand on Hermione's arm, touching her gently. "Hermione," he said quietly.

She didn't seem to hear him, as she began to whimper, and talk in her sleep. He could barely make out the words she was saying, but he could make out words like "fake" and "please don't." He gave her a little shake, and said her name again, as she let out a blood curdling scream, before flying up into a sitting position.

Dean immediately gathered her into his arms. "Hey, you're okay, it was just a dream."

Hermione's body shook with sobs, as she collapsed into Dean's embrace.

Dean held onto her tightly, whispering consoling words into Hermione's ear, trying to calm her down, when the door to their room flew open, the silhouettes of Bobby and Sam filling the doorway, each holding a weapon.

"Where is it?" Sam asked.

Dean was confused. "Where's what?"

"What do you mean, where's what? The whatever that was in here attacking you, causing your lady friend to scream," Bobby answered.

Dean sighed. "There's nothing in here, everything is fine. Now go back to bed."

"But Hermione screamed-"

"It's okay, Sam," Hermione said, shakily. "I just had a nightmare, I'll be okay in a minute. I'm sorry for waking you."

Sam and Bobby lowered their weapons, and looked sheepishly at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. Are you okay?" Sam asked.

Hermione nodded. "I will be. I'm fairly used to them, so it's nothing new for me. I'm just sorry I didn't take any precautions so I wouldn't wake the house."

"It's fine really," Sam said. "As long as you're sure you're okay."

"Sam, the lady said she's okay, so if you would kindly get the hell out, we would both appreciate it," Dean growled from where he sat still holding Hermione.

"Yeah, okay, fine. We'll get out of here. By the way, Hermione, I left your bag outside the door here, in case you need it."

"Thanks, Sam," Hermione said, smiling a little. "I really appreciate it. I look forward to formally meeting you in the morning."

Sam gave a nervous laugh before grabbing a confused Bobby by the arm and dragging him back into the hallway, shutting the door behind them.

Dean and Hermione sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to wrap their heads around what was happening.

"Were you dreaming of that night? The one where you were tortured?" Dean asked quietly.

Hermione nodded against him.

"Is that how it is every night?"

Hermione nodded again.

Dean squeezed her to him tighter, planting a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, you weren't there, you weren't the one pointing a wand at me causing me pain. You weren't the one carving derogatory terms into my body. We didn't know each other then. Please don't be sorry for something you couldn't even prevent. I get enough guilt and pity from Ron and Harry because they were there, and they blame themselves every day for not being able to protect me that night. So don't you dare add yourself to that list."

Dean pulled away slightly so he could look Hermione in the eye. "I don't pity you, and I would never pity you. I might not have been there that night to save you from whatever her name was torturing you, but I will tell you this. I will be there for you from now on. I will protect you from anything that I am physically able to. I don't ever want to see you hurt again. I promise you that much."

Hermione started to cry. "How can you keep that promise, if you're on the opposite side of the country from me?"

Dean moved his thumbs across her cheeks, wiping away the tears that had fallen. "Because I will sense when something is wrong and get to you as soon as possible. We have a connection, you and I. You know we do. And I would like to think that if something happened, I would be able to be there as soon as possible, because my gut says I need to be with you."

"How did I get so lucky to find you?" Hermione asked softly.

"Funny, I was just asking myself the same question about you."

**Please Review**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for this taking longer than usual to put up. Clingy and cranky baby makes editing and posting difficult. I'm sorry I didn't respond to all the reviews this time, it's been a long week. Just know that I appreciate every single one of them.**

Hermione sat on the back porch of Bobby's house, enjoying a cup of coffee while she stared at the wreckage of the Impala.

"He's going to fix it you know," a voice said from behind her.

She turned around and saw Sam standing behind her with his own cup of coffee.

"I don't see how that's possible. It doesn't even look like a car," she said, turning back toward the yard.

Sam took a seat next to her on the top stair of the porch, looking at the car. "He's Dean. He'll make it work. That car belonged to our dad, and Dean will put all his effort into fixing that thing."

Hermione turned to Sam. "Dean told me about your father. I'm sorry for your loss."

Sam turned to her. "Thanks." He held out his hand. "I'm Sam by the way."

Hermione took his hand. "I'm Hermione. It's good to finally officially meet you."

"Yeah, same here. I have to say you're not really what I expected."

Hermione smiled. "Expecting green skin and warts?"

Sam laughed. "No just taller and blonder."

Hermione nodded. "Ah, I go against your brother's type."

"No offense, but you just are a lot more intellectual and conservative than the girls he's dated in the past."

"None taken. Dean's told me of his past, so I kinda figured that I am an unusual pick for him."

"Now don't get me wrong, I think that you are perfect for Dean. What is it they say, opposites attract?"

Hermione laughed. "Touché."

"Where is Dean anyway?" Sam asked looking around.

"Sleeping. I think he over did it yesterday. His body is trying to protect itself from him." She answered.

Sam nodded. "He's been struggling with everything that's happened. I think you being here will be good for him."

Hermione smiled sadly. "I hope so. I hate to see him down like this."

"How long do you get to stick around?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. I figured I would play it by ear."

Sam nodded. "You didn't take a plane, you apparated here didn't you?"

Hermione turned to him, mouth open. "I did. How on earth did you know that?"

"Hogwarts: A History," Sam replied. "Dean had me read it for him after you told him you were a witch. I have a pretty good memory when I read something."

"She's a what?" Bobby exclaimed from behind them on the porch.

They both whipped around.

"Bobby, calm down, she's not the kind of witch we're used to. She didn't make a deal with a demon, she was born a witch," Sam explained.

"But that don't make no sense," Bobby replied.

Sam sighed. "Think of it as she's like Glinda from The Wizard of Oz. She's a good witch."

Bobby raised his eyebrow, and eyed them suspiciously. "And how do you know you can trust her?"

"Dean's been dating her for like a year," Sam said.

Bobby let out a low whistle. "That's pretty good for Dean."

Sam laughed. "I know, right?"

"Are you two quite done talking as if I weren't sitting right in front of you?" Hermione interrupted.

The two men turned toward her, and at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Sam said.

She shook her head. "It's all right," she said, standing up, offering her hand to Bobby. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way."

"Bobby Singer," he replied, shaking her hand. "How did you and Dean meet?"

"That's a long story, actually, would you like to go in and hear it while I make some breakfast?"

"Oh, we hunters never turn down food that we don't have to cook."

Hermione laughed and led the way into the kitchen.

/\/\/\/\/\/

Dean rolled over in the bed and felt around next to him. He frowned when he came up empty. Hermione must have already gotten up. Which meant she was talking and interacting with Sam and Bobby. And they had embarassing childhood stories.

"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered, sitting up suddenly. Sleeping in was definitely a bad choice. A very, very bad choice.

He moved to get out of the bed and groaned. His entire body felt as if he had been hit by a truck. He chuckled to himself. Of course it did, because he was literally hit by a truck. He paused at the edge of the bed. He really didn't want to admit it, but Sammy was right. He should have taken it easy yesterday. Instead he had to go beat up the Impala and have sex multiple times with Hermione.

He smiled to himself as he remembered the previous night. That was some amazing stuff. He had slept with his fair share of women, but for some reason, nothing could compare with last night. It was probably because the one difference between Hermione and all the other women was that he actually cared for her. A lot. He didn't want to go all crazy and use the 'L' word yet, but it seemed like it could very possibly be leading in that direction. He just didn't want to jinx it. Hermione could come to her senses and realize that the life he led was incredibly dangerous, and decide that she didn't want any part of that. After all, most of her teen years were spent living dangerously. She might want to live a normal life. And he would totally not blame her for that.

Experiencing her nightmares last night really made her experience more vivid and real for him. The fact that it had been eight years since the incident and she was still having nightmares, really said a lot about what she went through. Last night was the first time he was able to see the scar that wrapped itself around her chest. While he didn't think too much of it while they were in the act, now, looking back at it, it made him angry. If Hermione hadn't told him that the man who did that to her had already been killed, he would be on a plane to England right now to hunt that bastard and make him wish he never laid eyes on Hermione.

Dean finally found his bearings and got up from the bed. He hobbled over to his duffel, pulled out some clothes, and made his way to the bathroom. A nice, hot shower would be good right about now.

After his shower, Dean made his way downstairs, and as he got closer to the kitchen he could hear laughter and voices meeting him. He smiled when he could hear Hermione's lyrical laughter above the rest. He walked around the corner and let himself into the kitchen.

"Hullo, sleepy head!" Hermione greeted.

Dean saw the table filled with all kinds of breakfast foods. There were eggs and bacon and pancakes and orange juice. "Who cooked all of this?" he asked, gesturing at the food.

"Hermione did," Bobby replied. "My advice is to never, ever let this one go. Did you know she can even make pie?"

Dean chuckled. "Pie? Really?" He turned to Hermione and got down on one knee. "Marry me, oh domestic goddess."

Hermione laughed. "Stand up, and sit at the table, and dig in. There's plenty, and you need your strength."

Dean got up and sat down at the table. Hermione started shoveling tons of food onto his plate.

"Don't you think you're going a little overboard, sweetheart?"

Hermione shook her head. "You're healing from a major injury. You need to eat so you can get your strength back."

Dean gave her a smile before digging in, "What would I do without you?"

"Probably continue beating up the car," muttered Sam.

Dean chose to ignore him, moving his hand down to grip hers. He continued holding her hand as he ate.

/\/\/\/\/\/

"How long has he been out there?" Bobby asked, coming up behind Hermione, who was reading on the porch.

She lifted her wand and cast a _Tempus_ charm. She sighed when she saw the time. "Four hours," she said, casting away the charm.

Bobby sighed, taking a seat next to her. " I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that wand waving thing you do. Has he taken a break yet today?"

Hermione shook her head, as she shut her book. "Not yet. He was out here before I even woke up this morning. Same as every other day this week."

Bobby took his hat off and ran his hand over his head before replacing the hat. "Balls."

"He's grieving his father, and I'm guessing this is his way of dealing with his grief. The car was Mr. Winchester's, and once he gets it fixed he probably feels like he'll have a piece of his father back with him," Hermione said.

"So, he's throwing himself into getting it fixed," Bobby finished. He sighed. "I'm worried about that kid. Why can't he grieve like a normal son of a bitch, like Sam, and just mope around the yard?"

Hermione laughed. "Because if he were normal, life would be boring."

Bobby smiled at her. "You know, I like you."

"I'm glad, because I'm kind of living with you at the moment."

"I don't know what a girl like you sees in that idjit out there. You deserve a better life than waiting around for a hunter to show up at your door."

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know what it is, but I can't see myself with anyone but a hunter, well, that hunter out there. I think it might be because we get to be together, but I also get to go about my life and do what I want to do. There's no pressure to settle down and have a mountain of babies."

"Good lord, people still do that? Expect women to stay at home and raise babies?"

Hermione nodded. "The Wizarding World is quite old fashioned that way. The boy I dated before Dean, he expected me to drop my career and stay home and give him tons of babies. He was the sixth of seven children of a mom who stayed at home and cooked and cleaned and raised children. He couldn't understand that I would want a career of my own, and when I refused to come back and give him what he wanted, I was ceremoniously dumped via letter. I haven't seen or spoken to him since."

"Well, his loss. You're too smart to be kept at home. You're a teacher, right?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I teach high school chemistry."

"I wish I had a teacher that looked as good as you did when I was in school. I probably would have paid more attention."

Hermione blushed.

Loud banging interrupted them, causing them to turn toward the auto yard. Dean was standing next to the Impala, beating it senseless with a wrench.

Hermione smiled sadly. "That's my cue. It was nice chatting with you, Bobby."

Bobby watched as she pushed herself up from the porch and walked over to where Dean stood. He watched as she gently touched his back and said something to him, before he put the wrench down on the car, turning to wrap her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around him, as he buried his face in her neck. Bobby stood up to give the two of them some privacy.

"Yep," he muttered to himself. "They may be an oddly matched pair, but she's good for him."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

"No way, I'm not doing it," Dean said, moving to pull a beer out of the refrigerator.

"Why not?" Sam countered. "We can't stay here forever. We need to get back out there. The yellow-eyed demon is still out there. We need to find him, and kill him. It's what we do."

"The car's not ready yet. We'll go when the car is done," Dean said, taking a long sip from the beer in his hand.

"Not good enough, Dean. There's a message on Dad's phone, and we should go check it out."

"No, I'm not leaving Hermione."

"Bring her with us, then," Sam replied becoming more and more frustrated.

Dean shook his head. "I'm not going to take her on a job."

Sam groaned, throwing himself in a chair. "Fine, I'll go by myself."

"Go by yourself where?" Hermione asked coming into the room.

"Hermione, tell your boyfriend that it's healthy to start hunting again," Sam said.

Hermione looked between the two brothers, knowing that she just stepped into a tense situation. "Sam, can I talk to Dean alone for a minute?"

Sam nodded, stood up and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Dean and Hermione alone. Hermione walked over to where Dean was leaning against a counter, and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his chest. Dean instinctively wrapped his arms around her as well, resting his head on the top of her head.

"If you don't want to hunt, it's okay," Hermione said. "I'm sure Sam will understand."

"That's the problem. I do want to hunt. But shouldn't I, I don't know, mourn a little longer, it seems too soon."

"Everyone deals with their grief differently. Some people run away and start all new lives, some people fix cars, and some want to get back to their normal lives. Sam is probably one who just wants to get back to normal."

Dean sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm going to go with Sam on this job."

Hermione nodded against his chest. "I figured as much."

"I don't want to leave you. I hate leaving you."

"It'll be okay, you'll come to the east coast soon, I just know it. And we'll get to spend time together then, maybe you'll be able to stay a while."

"You can count on it. I'll send Sam away and it'll just be the two of us, and it'll be the best week or two in the world. I promise."

Hermione laughed. "Well, see now I have something to look forward to."

"I'm sorry our time together always seems so short," Dean muttered.

Hermione shrugged. "I knew what I was signing up for when I fell in love with a hunter."

Dean stiffened in her arms and Hermione realized what she said, and cursed.

"Dean, I-"

Dean unwrapped his arms and pushed her back from him. "You love me?" he asked, quietly.

Hermione swallowed. No use denying it now. "I do."

Dean broke into a huge grin. "I love you, too."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and returned his goofy grin. She got up on her tip toes and kissed him. Dean wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. Dean moved his hands down until they were cupping her ass, and picked her up, causing her to wrap her legs around his waist. She gasped as his hands found their way under her shirt, moving across her smooth skin. She could feel his erection pressing against her core, and she moaned.

Dean was trying to pull her shirt over her head, before she pulled away from him, placing a hand on his arm, stopping him.

"We can't do this here," she panted. "Bobby and Sam might walk in."

Dean nodded. "You're right."

Without putting her down he moved them expertly through the house, up the stairs, into their bedroom. He kicked the door shut, and walked swiftly to the bed, depositing Hermione there unceremoniously. Hermione whipped her wand out, casting silencing and locking charms, before setting the wand on the side table, and ripping her shirt over her head. She began shimmying out of her denims, and as she kicked out of them, she noticed Dean had already finished disrobing. She took off the last of her clothes, and Dean pounced on her, locking their lips together once again.

He moved his hand expertly down her body, stopping to squeeze her breasts and pinch her nipples. Hermione moaned and moved against him. He moved his hand down and checked her readiness, finding her very wet, and very ready. He removed his finger and lined himself up, entering her quickly. Once he was fully sheathed in her warmth, he paused, looking into her eyes. This woman loved him. And he loved her. He began moving slowly, pulling almost all the way out, before pushing back in. Their eyes remained locked as they moved together. Even though they had been having sex constantly during the week they had been together, somehow this time felt different. Time seemed to stand still as they made love, joining together in mind, body and soul. It wasn't long before they were reaching their heights, and they came together, exploding around each other, before crashing back down to earth.

Dean rolled off of Hermione, and pulled her to him, enjoying her closeness.

"Please be careful," Hermione said, quietly after their breathing had returned to normal.

"I promise," Dean said.

"And don't do anything stupid," she added.

"That'll be harder to do, but I'll try," Dean said, smirking.

Hermione laughed, burying her head in his chest. Dean ran his hand through her hair, and down her back, as the two of the laid in the bed, just enjoying each other, since they weren't sure when the next time they were going to be together really was.

**Quick question: I'm trying to figure out what to write next. Would anyone be interested in stories that fill in the blanks on this one? The next couple chapters skip around A LOT, and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in short one shots filling in blanks. I would take prompts and write what people wanted. Any interest? Let me know in reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

**The only excuse I have is it's hard to edit and post when you have a baby permanently attached to you. Baby has found independence again, I have found time to post another update.**

Hermione moved around the cottage trying to pick the place up a bit. Summer was coming to an end, and she had to prepare to go back to work. She had spent most of the summer after coming back from Bobby's working on her mail order potions business, and helping Bobby and the boys with any research they needed. They were determined to find the yellow-eyed demon, and she was trying her best to help them in any way she could.

After confessing their love to each other, Dean was calling her multiple times a day, rather than just the one. He kept saying it was to make up for the time they wouldn't be able to talk once she was back at school, but Hermione knew it was because he really missed her, more than usual.

Last year it was easy to be separated. She thought it was a great thing. To have this boyfriend that respected her boundaries, who didn't push her to give up her career. But now, it was as if it was the complete opposite. Ever since the crash and his coma, Hermione couldn't help but worry about Dean's safety constantly. She was actually glad that Dean was having separation issues and was calling constantly. That meant that he was still alive and not injured or dead in any way.

She sighed as she waved her wand, casting a cleaning spell in the kitchen. Between making potions and researching for the boys, she had really let the place go, and Harry was finally able to come over for lunch after being busy all summer on a case. She was over by her computer organizing the books she had borrowed from Bobby on demon lore when she heard the floo activate.

"Harry! You made it!" she exclaimed turning around toward the floo. "It's so great to see-" Hermione stopped short when she noticed it wasn't Harry standing in her living room, but Ron.

"Ronald?" Hermione said, surprised.

"Hey, 'Mione," Ron said, not moving from in front of the fire place. He stood there awkwardly, moving his hands behind his back, and shifting his weight foot to foot.

He looked different, Hermione noticed, from the last time she saw him. He wasn't wearing auror robes, like he had for the entire time they were dating. He was so proud to be an auror, he never took them off. He was wearing the magenta robes of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. His hair, which had been cut short and neat, was now longer and a mess. He had lost some weight, and it made him look fit.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione managed to ask.

He shrugged. "It's been a while, like a year, and I wanted to see you."

"You wanted to see me? So you came here? To America? You've never come to America to visit me, not even when we were dating."

Ron looked at his feet. "I know. I'm really sorry about that."

Hermione glared at him. "You're sorry that you're here, or you're sorry you never made the effort while we were dating?"

Ron sighed and looked up, "Look, I'm trying to make an effort here."

Hermione sighed. "Fine. Hullo, Ron, how have you been?"

Ron smiled. "I've been well. How have you been?"

Hermione had to smile at his use of 'well' instead of 'good.' After years of correcting him he finally got it right. "I've been amazing actually."

"Yeah?" Ron said, still standing next to the fireplace.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, it's been a great year."

"Oh," Ron said, disappointment lacing his voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm being rude, would you like to come in and take a seat?" Hermione asked, gesturing to her sofa.

Ron nodded, and moved to take a seat in her living room. "It's been a great year for me as well. As you can probably tell, I work with George now at the joke shop."

"I did notice a change in uniform," Hermione said, gesturing at his magenta robes. "What happened to being an auror?"

Ron shrugged. "I guess I just decided that it wasn't what I wanted to do. I wasn't really happy. It was more of Harry's dream rather than mine. So I quit, and George offered me a position in his shop until I could really decide what I wanted to do, and turns out, working at the joke shop _is_ what I want to do."

Hermione took a seat next to Ron on the sofa. "Ron, that's amazing. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you. So, how are you enjoying teaching?"

"It's amazing. I'm teaching essentially the muggle equivilant to potions, and being able to help these kids understand such a difficult subject is really quite rewarding."

"Of course, leave it to you to become the muggle version of Snape. Well, a kinder, more attractive version of Snape that is."

Hermione laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment, I guess."

Ron laughed with her. "I really don't know what I'm saying. Seriously, though, you're looking really good. Probably the best I've seen you in a while."

"Thanks, like I said, it's been a really good year for me, and I feel the best I have in a long time."

They didn't say anything for a while, sitting on the sofa in awkward silence, avoiding looking at each other.

"So," Hermione spoke up. "Is Harry coming at all, or was that just a cover for you to come through?"

"Something came up for Harry and he was feeling bad, I was over having lunch with Ginny, so I volunteered to come through. I've noticed you'd been avoiding me ever since...well, I decided we might as well get the first awkward visit over with, that way you can feel more comfortable coming to The Burrow. Mum misses you, you know."

Hermione hung her head, her chest filling with guilt. She hadn't been to The Burrow since the break-up. She hadn't really been to England much in the last year, just to help her parents settle into their new home there, but she avoided seeing anyone else. She didn't even really see Harry. She just used his floo to come and go. She would have to make up for that at Christmas. If Dean didn't think he was going to make it back to her at Christmas that is.

"I know. If I come home for Christmas, I'll make sure I stop by and see your family."

Ron's mouth dropped open in shock. "What do you mean, if? Aren't you coming for Christmas? You didn't come last year because you were getting your parents from Australia, but now your parents are in England, and so I just thought-"

"Yeah, my plans are still up in the air. It really depends on if," Hermione swallowed. It was now or never. It was like ripping off a band-aid, she told herself. "Dean will be in town or not."

"Who's Dean?"

Hermione took a deep breath and looked at her hands. "He's my boyfriend."

Ron didn't say anything, so Hermione chanced to look up at him. His face was turning red, and his eyes had narrowed.

"Ron? Are you okay?" she asked.

"Your boyfriend?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, my boyfriend."

Ron clenched and unclenched his fists. "How long?" he said quietly.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"How long," he asked forcefully.

Hermione worried her lip. "Officially, or unofficially?"

"Let's start with unofficially, shall we?"

"Unofficially a year ago this past May."

"We broke up a year ago this past May," Ron stated, trying to reign in his temper.

"Yes, we did. He was here when I got your owl post."

Ron stood up from the couch and began pacing the room. "What the hell, Hermione?" he shouted. "So, what, were you cheating on me? Or did my letter come at the most opportune time to make it so that you technically weren't cheating on me?"

"I was _not_ cheating on you, Ronald. Dean and I had just met, and he helped take care of me after I had one of my episodes. He was walking me home when I collapsed, and he stayed to watch over me. He was still here when your owl came. Nothing even happened between us until several months later."

"You had an episode?" Ron said, his anger melting away. "'Mione, how many of those have you had since being here?"

"That's the only one. I hadn't heard from you yet about my proposition to move here, and then a demon tried to abduct me, and it was all too much. So-"

"Wait, wait, hold on. A _demon_ tried to abduct you? What the hell has been going on this last year, Hermione? Maybe I should have moved here."

Hermione shook her head. "It's fine. Nothing ever came of it. I think it was to get Dean's attention, and it did."

Ron shook his head. "I really don't understand anything that's going on right now. But I do have to say that this visit is not going how I had hoped it would."

Hermione quirked and eyebrow. "How were you hoping it would go?"

Ron took a deep breath. "I came today to see if we could possibly get back together."

Hermione's jaw dropped, and she just stared at Ron. She honestly had no idea how to respond to that sentiment. She was about to answer when she heard a key in the lock of the front door, and heard the door open. Her heart soared.

Right before he left for his first job of the summer, she gave him her spare key to the house. She wanted him to be able to let himself in no matter what time he rolled into town.

"Honey, I'm home!" Dean said as he walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. He turned around from the door, and stopped, catching sight of Ron.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sam and Dean had just gotten done with a job in Baltimore, so they decided that since it had been a couple months since they had seen Hermione, they would drive the couple hours up to Salem and spend a few days with her. For once they made it into town in the middle of the afternoon, instead of the middle of the night, so Dean dropped Sam off at a motel and made his way to Hermione's, promising Sam they would reconvene at dinner time. He wanted to surprise Hermione, and he was very thankful she gave him a key. He parked the Impala in her driveway, and walked up to her door. He could hear voices inside, and remembered that her friend Harry was supposed to be coming for lunch, so she was definitely home. He opened the door, and was shocked when he saw a man with red hair standing in her living room. This wasn't Harry.

"Who are you?" the red head asked. "And why do you have a key to 'Mione's house?"

Hermione stepped toward Dean. "Ron, this is Dean. Dean, this is Ron."

The two men stood in her living room sizing each other up. So this was the ex. The one who Hermione was with for seven years. The one who broke up with her in a letter.

"You gave him a bloody key?" Ron exclaimed gesturing at him. "We were together for seven years and you never gave me a key?"

"I connected your floo with mine!" Hermione yelled. "And not once in seven years did you even step foot in this house!"

Dean smirked. The asshole never visited in seven years? And here he was starting year two and he had a key and was already utilizing it. Score one Winchester.

Ron sputtered. "Statute of secrecy!"

"Hey, buddy, I already know she's a witch. That's old news," Dean said, stoking the fire a bit. It was fun watching Ron's face start to match his hair.

"You told him you're a witch?" Ron yelled at Hermione.

Hermione nodded. "Of course I did. Why wouldn't I? We're dating."

Ron scoffed. "Right. Dating. He's just your rebound, 'Mione. You were heart broken when I broke up with you, he was here. He comforted you, and you latched on. How long after you received my owl did you wait to open your legs and let him fuck you?"

Dean had heard enough. He stalked over to Ron and punched him square in the jaw.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed rubbing his chin.

"Dean! Stop!" Hermione yelled.

Dean got up in Ron's face, grabbing him by the collar of his robes. "I don't like the way you're talking to Hermione right now, and you're going to stop, you understand? You're going to apologize for being a dick, or I will kick your ass until you do. Do we have an agreement?"

Ron looked right in Dean's eyes. "You don't scare me. I can take out my wand and transfigure you into a rat."

"You and your stupid stick don't scare me. I have seen some things, pal, and believe me, you're harmless compared to everything I have seen in my life."

Hermione touched his shoulder. "Dean, please let Ron down. He didn't mean anything by it. He's a little hot headed and speaks before he thinks sometimes."

Dean glared once more at Ron and then let him go, backing up so he was standing next to Hermione, his arm slung around her shoulder.

"Why don't you piss on her and really mark your territory?" Ron spat out, adjusting his robes, still rubbing his chin.

"Ron, please. You're better than this. I really don't understand why you're being so rude. You broke up with me, remember?" Hermione said.

"Well, I didn't think it was permanent. I thought maybe you would eventually come home and we would get back together. I thought for sure when Harry told me you had restored your parents memories, and they were moving back to England, you would decide you wanted to move back home. I waited and waited for you to write to us, or tell Harry that you were coming home, and then I would make my move. But then Harry said you were staying here, and I just couldn't wait any longer. I came here hoping I could convince you to take me back and come home with me," Ron explained, addressing Hermione directly, and ignoring Dean completely.

Dean raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening. The balls on this guy. He turned and looked at Hermione who didn't look very pleased at what she had just heard. In fact, she looked down right pissed. He removed his arm, and took a step away. He knew when to give someone space, and as much fun as it was pushing Ron's buttons, and as much as it pissed him off that Ron assumed Hermione would take him back and move back to England with him, he knew it was Hermione's fight, and that she would be able to take care of herself.

"You thought that I would want to move back? When have I ever indicated that I want to move back?" Hermione asked.

"It's your home, Hermione. Don't you want to come home?" Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head. "I am home, Ronald. Why can't you understand that? I'm happier here. I'm healthier here."

"You can be happy and healthy back home with us," Ron said. "Why won't you even give it a try?"

"Because whenever I'm over there, as soon as I step foot out of the floo at Grimmauld Place, I can feel the anxiety creeping back up. The last time I was there, I ran into Malfoy, and almost had a panic attack. I can't live like that. And now, I have even more of a reason to stay here. I have Dean." Hermione looked over at Dean and gave him a smile.

Ron scoffed. "You've only been with him a year. It's a fling. You'll realize when he breaks your heart, that you're better off coming home and being with me. Aren't you ready to settle down and start a family? You aren't getting any younger."

Dean clenched his fist, and took a step forward before he was stopped by Hermione's hand on his arm. He glanced over at her and she just shook her head. He unclenched his fists and tried to relax.

"I'm not ready to settle down and start a family, Ron. And even if I were ready to start a family, I'm not going to give up my career to do so. That's the one thing we could never agree on, in all our years together," Hermione said, gently. "And also? This," she said gesturing between her and Dean. "Is not a fling. I love him."

"You what?" Ron said.

"I love him. And he loves me. And as you can see by the fact that he has a key to my home, we're quite serious. So I'm sorry, Ron, but there's really nothing you can say that will convince me to get back together with you. You broke up with me, and I've moved on. I'm sorry."

Ron's bravado came crashing down, and he just looked like someone kicked his puppy. He walked over to the couch and sat down putting his head in his hands. Dean actually felt a little sorry for the guy. Hermione was a great woman, and if he had just been told she was in love with someone else, he would be crushed too. At least Hermione tried to tell him in the nicest way possible.

Ron picked up his head, tears rimming his eyes, threatening to fall. "Does Harry know?"

Hermione nodded sadly. "He was here a year ago when Dean found out I was a witch."

Ron sniffed. "He's known this whole time? And he just let me go on and on about how I was going to come here and win you back? Why wouldn't he tell me something important like this?"

"Probably because he was concerned you would get angry and come through the floo ready to confront me, and he didn't want to be the one to set you off."

Ron smiled. "You're probably right. I'm sorry, Hermione. About everything. About all the mean things I said, and being rude. I was just surprised, is all."

Hermione smiled back at him. "I know, Ron. We have known each other for fifteen years, I can pretty much predict your tempers at this point."

Ron laughed and wiped at his eyes. "I think I'm going to head back. I need to be alone right now, but rain check on tea, yeah?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course. Please don't be a stranger."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He stood from the couch, and walked in front of Dean. "Take care of her, and if you hurt her, I'll hex your bollocks off."

Dean smiled, and extended his hand. "Deal."

The two men shook before the red head turned and walked over to the fire place and a minute later disappeared in a flash of green light.

Once he was gone, Hermione turned toward Dean. "How long are you in town for?" she asked.

"A few days. We just got off a job in Baltimore and decided we need a little r and r."

They smiled at each other, before Dean scooped her up and carried her to her bedroom.

**Please Review**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry it's been FOREVER since my last update. The Baby has discovered my computer…he likes to pound on the keys. So I've taken to not turning it on during the day while he's awake. He's also gotten crazy mobile, so I've been playing with him a lot. Add he decided sleeping at night is for the week, so I've been trying to sleep whenever he's asleep, and that's the end of my excuses. I want to remind you that the story is pretty much complete (minus chapter 13, which I'm working on), and there are 17 chapters. This one is the shortest of the whole story, but it's needed to set up the direction for the rest of the story. If you're familiar with Supernatural, you'll start to recognize where the next several chapters will be leading. Okay, enough chatter, here's the chapter!**

Hermione sat on her bed and watched Dean gather his things and throw them in a duffel bag. They weren't saying anything, saying good bye was getting infinitely harder every time they did it.

Dean was able to stay four days. They of course spent most of those four days in bed. They didn't let Ron's unexpected visit and subsequent confrontation put a damper on their time together.

"I hate this part," Hermione said from her spot on the bed. It was still dark out, and she was wrapped in her sheet.

Dean looked up from his bag. "Me too, sweetheart, me too."

She pushed back her hair from her face. "When we first started this relationship, I loved the fact that we could be together and still have our independence from each other, but now, I'm kind of wishing we would be able to see each other more."

Dean zipped his bag and walked over to sit next to Hermione on the bed. "You know, I've never been one for commitment, and my life has never really lent itself to a steady relationship, so I agree, this was the most ideal situation ever. I got to be with you, and keep my job on the road. Now, I just can't see myself doing this anymore."

Hermione's heart jumped into her throat, and she found herself unable to breathe. "You can't see yourself doing what anymore?" she asked, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"This job," he answered. "I don't know if I can be on the road anymore hunting shit."

Hermione looked at him in shock. "But you love hunting. It's in your blood."

Dean shook his head. "Yeah, that's what I thought, and if you hadn't come into my life, I think I would have wanted to keep going. But when I'm out there, on the road, with nothing but my thoughts keeping me company while Sammy snores next to me, all I can think about is you."

Hermione moved closer to Dean, laying her head on his shoulder. "I don't want you to give your job up for me."

Dean shook his head. "What kind of job is it? Moving around the country. Sleeping in crappy motels. Committing credit card fraud-"

"I told you to let me give you the money, my war reparations would let you live for years," Hermione interrupted.

"I don't want to take your money. I would feel guilty that that's what it was used for. My vagabond lifestyle," he answered. "And that's what I'm talking about. This was my dad's thing. My dad forced us into this life, and then I thought it was what I wanted, you know? Maybe Sammy is the one who's been right all along, wanting to get out of the life. And these past few months I've been doing a lot of thinking. After we catch the yellow-eyed demon and smoke the bastard, I'm going to let Sam go back to school and do what he's been wanting to do, and I'm going to come back here. And be with you. If you'll have me."

Hermione turned, cupping his cheek in her hand. "Of course I'll have you. I love you. And if you want to give up hunting and come live here after you kill the yellow-eyed demon, then I say kill the bastard and hurry up back home."

Dean closed the distance between them, locking her in an intense kiss. After a few minutes of snogging and groping, Hermione pulled away, resting her forehead on his, trying to catch her breath.

"Sam's going to be waiting for you. Most likely in the driveway. You better not keep him waiting."

Dean closed his eyes trying to compose himself, and nodded against her. "You're right. I better go." He wrapped her in a hug, pulling her close to him. "I don't know when I'll be back, but I will be back, and it will be permanent."

Hermione sniffled. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay? Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

Dean pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I promise."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

"He took Sam," Dean's voice came over the phone, panicked.

Hermione stood up from the table she was sitting at with Harry and Ron, enjoying lunch. "Hold on, slow down. Who's got Sam?"

"Yellow-eyes," Dean was sounding more panicked by the minute. "I don't know what to do. I have no idea where he is. He was here one minute, and then he was gone, and I don't know where to even start-"

"Take a deep breath," Hermione instructed over the phone. "Have you called Bobby?"

"I'm on my way there, right now," Dean said.

"Okay, good. That's good. You need to go to Bobby. He will know how to start," Hermione said, using her "know-it-all" voice.

"Hermione, they were all dead," Dean said, quietly.

"Who?" She asked.

"Everyone in the diner we stopped at. Sam went in to get food, and I waited in the car. The radio did something wacky, and I rushed into the diner, and everyone was dead, and Sam was gone."

"Fuck," Hermione muttered. "Dean, everything is going to be okay. Do you need me to come out there? I can meet you at Bobby's."

"No," Dean answered quickly. "I don't want you coming anywhere near me right now. I can't have you in danger. I need you to stay where you are so I can come home to you after I kill the fucking bastard."

"Okay, but you call me if you change your mind. Dean, you will find him, and everything will be okay."

"I hope so, sweetheart, I really hope so."

"Dean, promise me you won't do anything stupid."

The other side of the line was quiet for a long time. Hermione had to check to make sure the call was still connected. "Dean, promise me," she repeated, her voice breaking.

"I can't promise that this time," Dean said, before the line went dead.

"Dean?" Hermione cried into the phone. "Dean?!" the line was dead. She tried calling back, but the call just went straight to voice mail. "Fuck!" she cried, throwing the phone across the room. Her knees gave out and she sunk to the floor, burying her face in her hands as she cried.

She jumped as she felt a hand gently touch shoulder. She turned around to see Harry standing behind her, his eyes full of concern. Ron stood behind him, looking confused.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"What's going on?"

Hermione swallowed and wiped at her face. "The boys have been hunting this demon all year. It's the one that killed both of their parents. In fact, they've been so focused on finding him that I haven't seen them in months. In fact, the first time you came to visit, Ron. Tonight the demon kidnapped Sam. Dean is in a panic, and he's on his way to South Dakota to try and find him, and I'm really worried about Dean doing something ridiculously stupid in order to save his brother."

Harry pulled her into a hug as she broke down and sobbed. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Dean is an intelligent man, and I'm sure he won't do anything stupid."

"I'm sorry," Ron spoke up. "But can someone please explain what the hell is going on here? You haven't seen your boyfriend in months? I thought he lived here, that's why he had a key."

Hermione pulled away from Harry to glare at Ron. "Out of everything that's just happened, _that's_ what you choose to focus on?"

Ron shrugged. "It's a fair question."

"Well, Ronald, since you're so curious, Dean is a hunter. He doesn't live around here, in fact he doesn't really live anywhere. He travels around the country killing evil supernatural beings. He has a key so that when he finds himself in the neighborhood, he can just let himself in, and not ring the bloody doorbell and wake me up if he gets here in the middle of the night. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

Ron looked down at his feet, sheepishly. "Yeah, it does actually. It answers some things up pretty nicely too. Like why you told him you were a witch. He was able to comprehend that witches exist since he was already familiar in weird, non-muggle things."

"Wow, Ron, that's a very profound observation," Hermione commented.

"Okay, now that that's over with, let's back track here a bit," Harry said. "Why do you feel so strongly that Dean is going to do something stupid?"

Hermione took a shaky breath. "Sam is everything to Dean. He pretty much raised him when they were kids. The fact that the Demon has kidnapped Sam, and taken him somewhere Dean doesn't know where to look...Dean will do anything to make sure Sam is safe."

Ron walked over to the fireplace and grabbed some floo powder.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"Calling George and telling him I'm taking a vacation for a few days."

"Why?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Because you're not staying here alone. I don't want to take any risks here. You are going to be worrying and under a lot of stress, I don't want you to have an episode and have no one here to help you," he answered.

"Good idea, Ron. When you're done, I'll call Kingsley and tell him the same thing."

Hermione looked between her two friends, in awe. "Thank you," she said.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Hermione sat on the couch reading a book, well attempting to read anyway, while Ron and Harry sat on the floor playing wizard chess on her coffee table. It had been four days since the panicked call from Dean, and she hadn't heard from either Winchester or Bobby since.

The boys had been very supportive, and had been trying very hard to keep her mind occupied while she was home. She was trying to finish up the year at school, but her mind was not focusing on her task. All she could do was think about Dean, and worry about him.

She put down her book—she was reading the same paragraph over and over anyway—and picked up her phone.

"Hey, put that down. I thought we agreed that we're not calling anymore," Ron said from his spot on the floor.

"Yeah, 'Mione. It's not doing you any good to keep calling the three of them."

Hermione groaned in frustration. "Just one more time. I haven't even called yet today."

"That's because you were in school all day, and then you spent three hours brewing. You haven't had a chance. Give me the phone," Harry said, holding out his hand.

"What if one of them calls me?" she asked.

"Then I'll give you the phone back, and you can talk to him. But until then, no phone."

Hermione pouted and handed her phone over.

Harry put the phone in his pocket and turned back to his game with Ron. He was losing horribly. "If you don't mind, I'm going to pop back over and see Ginny for a bit. She's been feeling a little under the weather, and with the baby, I don't want her to overdo anything."

Hermione smiled. "You don't have to ask, Harry. I'll be fine. Obviously, I'm not going to get answers any time soon. I'm just going to head to bed any way. Ron, you can go too if you want."

The boys looked at her, deep in thought. Harry walked over to Hermione and gave her a hug. "I'll come by tomorrow morning. Don't do anything stupid before then. I'm keeping the mobile with me. He'll just have to leave a voice mail if he calls. You need your sleep."

Harry pulled away, and Ron gave her a hug. "Floo if you need anything, okay? I'll be back in a heartbeat."

Hermione nodded, "You know I will."

The boys walked over to the fireplace and took turns going through. Hermione found herself in an empty house for the first time in days, and found it eerie and lonely. She signed, double checked that the front door was locked. Turned out all the lights in the house, and then crawled into bed. For the first time in days, as soon as her head hit her pillow, she was out.

/\/\/\/\/\/

_Thud. Kathunk. Creeeeek._

Hermione startled from her sleep, sitting up in her bed. She reached under her pillow and pulled out her wand.

"_Lumos_," she whispered, lighting the tip of her wand.

Her room filled with a soft glow as she slipped out of her bed, her bare feet touching the cold floor. She tiptoed out of her room, and into the hallway. The sound seemed to be coming from her living room. She began to mentally prepare herself for an intruder. Would she be able to use magic on them and then obliviate them so they wouldn't remember what happened? Logically yes she could, but ethically, she knew she probably shouldn't. The creaking of the floor boards in her living room made her think _fuck ethics_, and she moved forward toward the sound.

As she neared the living room, she could see the shadowing figure of a man standing in her living room, walking toward her. Her eyes weren't adjusted, but the man was large. What was he doing here? What did he want? The two of them were getting ready to meet up, Hermione drew her wand back, ready to cast a defensive curse, when the man was illuminated by the tip of her wand. Her brown eyes made contact with familiar green ones. She nearly dropped her wand in shock.

"Dean?"

**Review?**


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